Medical marijuana still trails by 3,300 votes

Arizona’s medical marijuana proposition is still losing by more than 3,300 votes, a gap that has stayed relatively steady over the last 24 hours.

But it’s still too close to call Proposition 203, as 78,000 early and provisional ballots remain to be counted.

The proposition that would legalize marijuana for people with certain medical disabilities was trailing by 3,342 votes on Nov. 10. Two days earlier it stood about 6,500 votes.

But in Maricopa County, which still has by far the most ballot to process – 50,000 provisionals and 22,000 early ballots – the proposition has been unable to close a roughly 10,000-vote gap, meaning other areas of the state are contributing to the closeness of the measure.

If the trend continues as it did for the approximately 900,000 votes already counted in Maricopa County, then the proposition would likely come up short, said Matthew Benson, Secretary of State’s spokesman.

“I don’t envision it, but it certainly is possible. You’ve got ballot propositions separated by a few thousand votes and with so many votes left to count it’s possible, but I don’t expect that to happen,” he said.

Andrew Myers, campaign manager for the Medical Marijuana Policy Project, said that Prop. 203 is getting about 60 percent of the provisional votes in counties across the state and still has a chance to win.

“What’s been really encouraging is that even in places we lost substantially, the provisional (ballots) have been in our favor,” Myers said.

Out of the 78,000 total ballots left to be counted, 56,000 are provisionals, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Myers’ campaign was both surprised and disappointed with how the close the race has become, he said.

“There was no indication that we were in trouble,” he said.

The campaign was lured into a false sense of security based on polls showing supporters of the proposition had a strong lead going into the election. Additionally, opposition from Attorney General Terry Goddard and a shortage of campaign money led to misrepresentations about the proposition, Myers said.

Other ballot measures too close to call include Proposition 110, which would authorize the exchange of state trust lands in order to protect military installations. That measure was failing by about 2,800 votes.

Proposition 112, which would require petitions to be filed two months earlier than the current deadline, was up by 2,000 votes.

Recounts of the close propositions are unlikely. State law requires a margin of 200 votes or fewer to trigger a recount.