Officials and others react to initial reports of B's passage
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As the dust settles on a long and divisive campaign with unofficial results showing an apparent win for Measure B, both supporters and opponents feel the measure will help make the county a better place.
Measure B, which would repeal Measure G and set medical marijuana limits at six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of dried marijuana, appeared to be passing early Wednesday morning with approximately 52 percent of the vote.
"The ability to obtain convictions on commercial growers will increase substantially," said Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott.
Ukiah Police Chief Chris Dewey said the apparent passage of Measure B will create a "consistent enforcement standard" in the county.
Lintott said she believed the new consistency in medical marijuana laws and the repeal of Measure G would create a "deterrence effect" that would keep people from coming to Mendocino County specifically to grow marijuana.
"The word will get out that Mendocino is not the place to grow marijuana," she said.
"We're hoping the people will self-regulate," Dewey said.
During the campaign, one of the primary arguments of the No on B Campaign is that it would make every medical marijuana patient growing seven or more plants a felon.
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said that is not the case.
"Legitimate medical marijuana will be respected," he said.
"The people who need to be concerned are the people who have been hiding behind Measure G and abusing the system," Allman said.
Similarly, Lintott said her office would concentrate on prosecuting large commercial marijuana growers and not legitimate medical marijuana gardens that are out of compliance by a few plants.
"I've never been one to care about the number of plants," she said. "I'm interested in the totality of the circumstances and whether or not it is a commercial grow."
Dane Wilkins, director of the Mendocino County chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the apparent narrow margin of victory for Measure B should serve as a message to the community that there are a lot of people in the county who support the rights of medical marijuana users.
According to unofficial election results, 16,285 people voted on Measure B, with 8,493 voting for the measure and 7,792 voting against. There are still 439 provisional ballots to be counted.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Elections Office issued a press release stating that in addition to the 439 provisional ballots, there are more than 10,000 mail-in ballots that were dropped off at polling places on Election Day and have not yet been counted (see accompanying article.)
Before the announcement of the still-to-be-counted ballots, Wilkins had said he hoped the close result would foster communication between the two groups.
"It's a good starting point to having a dialogue with the other side," he said.
Representatives from the California NORML office were more critical of the results. Dale Gieringer of NORML said the passage of the measure did not have the force and effect its supporters believe.
"The passage of Measure B settles nothing," he said. "Its major enforcement provision is invalid and it contains nothing that addresses the real problems of large-scale criminal cultivation. The county needs to go back to the drawing board."
Gieringer was referring to the California Appellate Court decision in People v. Kelly in which the court found that the medical marijuana limits of six mature or 12 immature plants and eight ounces of marijuana are unconstitutional because the Legislature cannot make changes to a voter initiative without the voters' approval.
Senate Bill 420 set the state limits, putting a cap on voter approved Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana but did not set a limit on the amount of medical marijuana a patient could possess.
Gieringer also criticized the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors for placing Measure B on the primary ballot, which he said traditionally has lower voter turnout and attracts older and more conservative voters.
All current election results are unofficial. Final results will not be available until the canvass is complete, which can take up to 28 days.
Ben Brown can be reached at udjbb@pacific.net.
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10,000+ ballots uncounted
By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal
Article Last Updated: 06/05/2008 08:24:42 AM PDT
10,000+ ballots uncounted
While all the county's precincts had reported by early Wednesday morning, there are still more than 10,000 ballots remaining to be counted, according to the Mendocino County Assessor-Clerk-Recorders Office.
According to a statement issued by the Elections Office late Wednesday afternoon, there are 10,835 absentee ballots that have not yet been counted and were not part of the unofficial election results released on election night.
"They just dropped them off at the polling places," said Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Sue Ranochak of the thousands of mail-in ballots.
Additionally, there are 439 provisional ballots that have also not been counted.
According to Wednesday's election results, 16,436 ballots were cast during the election and many of the races, including Measure B, were separated by fewer than 1,000 votes.
Ranochak said it is not uncommon to have this many uncounted ballots once the election is over. During the February primary election, close to 9,000 absentee ballots remained uncounted after election night, she said.
Those ballots did not change the outcome of any of the races.
A final tally of votes and definitive results of the election will not be available until a canvass can be performed. The Elections Office has 28 days to complete the canvass.
"We'll complete it as fast as we can," Ranochak said.
Ben Brown can be reached at udjbb@pacific.net.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_9488945
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