Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Lee’s Summit and Freedom Caucus chair, gives a speech on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Jefferson City during the start of the 2024 Missouri legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024.
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Senate voted Tuesday to limit the ability of courts to revise the summaries voters read when weighing in on ballot questions that originate in the Legislature.
Under current law, Missouri courts may rewrite ballot language drafted by the Legislature following a legal challenge.
But a bill sponsored by Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, gives the secretary of state three chances to revise ballot language submitted by the Legislature if there is a legal challenge. If the courts aren’t satisfied with the revisions, they would then have the power to craft the final language.
Brattin argued it violates the separation of powers outlined in the Missouri Constitution for anyone but the secretary of state to write or revise ballot language.
“The court shouldn’t be overstepping its bounds putting pen to paper (to) deceive voters,†Brattin said.
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Brattin’s effort comes as Republicans are pushing ballot measures to partially reverse the constitutional amendment allowing abortion that voters approved last year.
Sens. Denny Hoskins, left, and Rick Brattin, of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, proudly hold up posters showing how much of the Senate’s time has been consumed by them and other Freedom Caucus members on Jan. 25, 2024, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Hoskins is now Missouri’s secretary of state.
Brattin’s proposal wouldn’t change judicial oversight of ballot summaries proposed through initiative petitions, such as the abortion rights Amendment 3.
Even so, Brattin referenced a successful legal challenge to ballot language by the secretary of state in arguing for his bill.
In 2023, a Cole County judge called the language proposed by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft “unfair†and “misleading.â€
One case that would’ve been affected by the new law is a 2020 dispute over ballot wording for a question doing away with a new redistricting method voters approved in 2018.
In 2020, then-Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce threw out a summary crafted by legislators for the ballot question.
The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District also rejected the Legislature’s wording and made additional edits to the summary. The question eventually passed with 51% of the vote.
The legislation also increases the number of words the Legislature has to summarize resolutions from 50 to 100 which is the amount allowed for citizen-driven initiatives.
Brattin’s initial proposal would have prohibited the courts from revising ballot language altogether. If the court found ballot language written by the Legislature to be unacceptable the secretary of state or Legislature in a special session would rewrite it with no further recourse available.
Democrats were quick to voice opposition to the initial version, arguing the courts are needed to provide nonpartisan guidance on ballot measures.
Sen. Doug Beck, D-south ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, said, “We always have problems with court decisions, but at the end of the day you need to respect that process.â€
Beck added that the secretary of state, a partisan elected official, shouldn’t have such a high level of control over ballot language.
The current secretary of state, Republican Denny Hoskins, is a former state senator and co-founder of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, part of the hard-right . Brattin is the current chair of the Missouri chapter.
The legislation is Sena
Sen. Rick Brattin gives a press conference with other members of the Freedom Caucus to discuss initiative petition changes and the importance of passing them given an effort to have Missouri voters weigh in on abortion access, and steps the Republicans in the Senate have taken against caucus members. Brattin spoke on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. Video provided by the Senate media office; edited by Beth O’Malley.
