Kern County residents made their way to polling places to vote for candidates and measures on Super Tuesday. Right now Measure D is facing an uphill battle with 60 percent of voters against the measure and only 40 percent for it. And Measure E also has voters voting against it with 58 percent against and 42 percent for.
If the results continue trending this way it would mean that the current ban on medicinal marijuana shops would remain in place and state and local law enforcement agencies would still be tasked with trying to ensure the shops remain closed.
Many of the shop operators told 23ABC's Tori Cooper that they were hoping that this would pass so that they could come out of the black market and contribute back to the county funding through the taxation process. However, the county has been very outspoken about how they feel - officials saying both measures were a threat to public safety and that they didn’t want to see either measure pass.
The results of the election could be another big win in the eyes of District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, others on the Board of Supervisors and of course voters who oppose the legalization of medicinal shops.
However, for patients and store owners this is a loss and this issue will likely not be discussed in November.
