Prop 203 Loses More Ground in Weekend Vote Counts

Arizona's medical marijuana proposition fared poorly in vote counts over the weekend, reversing the temporary positive trend we wrote about on Thursday. The numbers now stand at 773,555 against, and 766, 923 for Proposition 203, for a difference of 6,632. Election officials must have encountered a random pocket support on...

By Ray Stern

November 7, 2010

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Arizona's medical marijuana proposition fared poorly in vote counts over the weekend, reversing the temporary positive trend we wrote about on Thursday.

The numbers now stand at 773,555 against, and 766, 923 for Proposition 203, for a difference of 6,632.

Election officials must have encountered a random pocket support on Thursday in counting what's left of the votes. The "no" voters are back on track, heading toward a likely -- though not yet certain -- defeat of the measure.

Supporters of 203 can head off the Monday blues by dwelling on the possibilities latent in the still-uncounted votes. An early afternoon bulletin from election officials shows that more than 100,000 votes remain uncounted in Maricopa County alone.

Maybe hordes of people dropping off early ballots at the polls on election day or receiving provisional ballots voted overwhelmingly for 203. Their votes could start being reflected in these last counts.

Anytime now.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.