MADISON, Wis. – Three non-binding referendum questions on marijuana legalization, marijuana record expungement and repealing Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban passed by wide margins in Dane County on Tuesday, but in Wisconsin, voters don’t have the power to vote to directly change laws.
“Wisconsin does not have binding referendums as a state, but (what) we can do is do advisory referendums at the local level,” Dane County Board Sup. Aaron Collins (District 10) said. “It’s a great way to take the temperature on the county and see where people are at on these issues.”
Marijuana legalization has been on the ballot three times, and it has only gotten more popular.
“Every time that question has been posed to the voters, there’s been an increase in popularity, and what we saw last night was that 82% of the people in the county think marijuana should be legalized,” he said.
Dane Co. Ref: Legalize Marijuana
Dane County
-
Yes Winner
81.9%
244,830 -
No
18.1%
53,930
And while it can’t change the law, Collins, who authored the proposal, believes it’ll still make a change.
“I believe that this becomes increasingly difficult for Republicans in the Capitol to ignore how popular legalization is. This wasn’t just in Dane County, this was in Eau Claire, this was in Green Bay, this was in other places around the state that they want marijuana to be legalized here,” Collins said.
Collins’ second referendum question proposed expunging all minor marijuana crimes.
“We are not addressing our racial disparities here in Dane County, so that second question on the ballot related to expungement of records, that was really important to make sure we as Dane County were kind,” he said.
That question passed by a slightly larger margin of 82.2%-17.8%.
Dane Co. Ref: Expunge Marijuana Convictions
Dane County
-
Yes Winner
82.2%
244,404 -
No
17.8%
52,945
The abortion repeal, meanwhile, had an even higher approval rate.
“At least here within Dane County, (there was) overwhelming support for repealing the abortion ban language, 85.5%,” its author, Dane County Board Sup. Cecely Castillo (District 7), said.
Castillo says voters from both sides voted to repeal, but in Wisconsin, voters can only vote on non-binding referenda. She doesn’t believe the state’s current legislature will allow this issue to see the floor.
“If you look at what happened, for example, in Michigan, I mean, if we were able to bring a binding referendum in such a manner in Wisconsin, I firmly believe that you would see similar results,” she added.
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