The Election Law Enforcement Commission doesn’t expect the fight over a marijuana legalization ballot question to be flush with cash.
While officials expect the legalization referendum to have some odd millions behind it, they don’t believe it will break any spending records, ELEC Deputy Director Joe Donohue said in the commission’s monthly newsletter.
“More likely, this year’s ballot question duel is likely to end up closer to a 2019 local referendum in Jersey City that imposed new rules on short-term rentals despite heavy opposition from Airbnb,” he wrote. “It weighed in at $5.5 million.”
Last year’s referendum in Jersey City was the second most expensive in state history, only falling behind a 2016 referendum on North Jersey Casinos that saw nearly $25 million in spending.
The Jersey City referendum was still the most expensive local ballot question New Jersey had ever seen.
Per ELEC analysis, marijuana referendums in other states bore an average cost of…
