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Senate approves bill that might stop pro-pot ballot proposal

Posted at 4:24 PM, Mar 10, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-10 16:24:23-05

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Senate has passed legislation to ensure that signatures collected for a ballot question are valid only if collected within 180 days.

Current law allows groups to challenge the cap, including a group in favor of legalizing marijuana. Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, a Republican, says the bill makes everybody play by the same rules.

But Sen. Coleman Young II of Detroit says the legislation might quash an effort to put a marijuana proposal on the November ballot. Young and other Democrats voted against the bill. He accuses Republicans of pushing the legislation to kill the marijuana drive.

The Senate approved the bill Thursday along party lines, 26-10. It now goes to the House.