Judge revises ballot language for plan to make it harder to amend Missouri Constitution

A ballot measure pushed by Republicans to change how majorities are calculated in Missouri for constitutional amendments proposed by initiative must clearly alert voters that is its intent, a Cole County judge ruled Wednesday.

The decision from Circuit Judge Daniel Green is the written version of his oral ruling from Feb. 19 that provisions critics decry as “ballot candy” must be removed from the language prepared by lawmakers.

Those provisions — penalties for campaigns that accept donations from foreign sources, for committing fraud in the signature process and requiring public hearings on initiatives — don’t change anything, Green wrote. He removed the first two lines of the ballot title, which point to those provisions, because they are “restatements of current law and do not reveal to voters what the measure would achieve if passed and must be removed from the summary statement.”

Passed by lawmakers last year, the proposal will be Amendment 4 on the November ballot.




https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/judge-revises-ballot-language-for-plan-to-make-it-harder-to-amend-missouri-constitution/