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WELLINGTON: New Zealand has provisionally voted to legalize euthanasia, but is on track to reject changes in the law that would allow recreational use of marijuana, the country’s Election Commission said on Friday (October 30).
New Zealand voted in both referenda this month while voting during the general elections that brought Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern back to power.
In issuing preliminary results, the commission said that nearly half a million special votes have yet to be counted, mostly from abroad. These votes will not be enough to alter the vote on euthanasia, but they may be enough to change the count for recreational marijuana, he said.
A bicyclist passes a sign in support of legalizing marijuana in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Oct. 15, 2020 (Photo: AP / Mark Baker, file)
Full results will be released on November 6, but with more than 65.2 percent of voters in favor of the recently passed legislation allowing euthanasia, assisted suicide will become law by the end of 2021.
New Zealand’s Election Commission said 53.1 percent of voters opposed the country becoming the third to legalize the use and sale of cannabis by adults, after Canada and Uruguay.
In 2017, Ardern supported the cannabis referendum plan in order to secure sufficient support to form a coalition government.
