SB 935: Ballot Measures & Initiative Procedures
Sponsor: Mike Cierpiot
OPPOSE
Moves power from the people to judiciary
SB 935 revises Missouri's rules for how ballot titles and fiscal notes are challenged in court and how initiative-petition signatures are treated when ballot titles change. It also allows courts to enjoin an initiative if they conclude a valid 100-word summary cannot be written due to single-subject violations, and sets a hard 180-day deadline for resolving lawsuits over ballot titles, after which challenges are "extinguished."
What Does This Bill Do?
- Multi-step SOS Rewrites: If a court finds a ballot summary insufficient, it must order the Secretary of State to rewrite it up to three times before the court can intervene and write its own summary.
- Early Injunctive Power: Allows courts to enjoin the circulation of an initiative petition if they determine a valid, concise 100-word summary cannot be written because the petition violates single-subject requirements.
- Lawsuit Extinguishment: Any challenge to a ballot title or fiscal note that is not "fully and finally adjudicated" within 180 days is automatically extinguished (terminated), potentially leaving citizens without a remedy for misleading ballot language.
- Signature Validity: Clarifies that signatures gathered for an initiative petition remain valid even if the ballot title is subsequently changed by a court order.
Constitutional or Critical Context
This bill mixes some helpful clarity and single-subject enforcement with serious structural risks to citizens' initiative rights and access to the courts. While enforcing single-subject rules is positive, the provision that automatically extinguishes lawsuits after 180 days may conflict with Missouri's "open courts" and "certain remedy" guarantees (Art. I ยง14). It risks concentrating gatekeeping power in the judiciary and could allow misleading ballot titles to survive simply because the legal process took too long.
Red Flags & Recommended Amendments
Early Judicial Veto of Citizen Initiatives
The bill authorizes courts to enjoin petition circulation whenever a judge decides a valid 100-word summary is "impossible" due to single-subject complexity. This could be weaponized against disfavored initiatives before voters ever see them.
Extinguishing Lawsuits After 180 Days
Automatically terminating ballot-title challenges not resolved within 180 days punishes citizens for court delays. This could allow bad-faith actors to "run out the clock" to protect deceptive ballot language.
Act for Missouri Recommendation:
SB 935 contains some worthwhile goals, especially regarding single-subject enforcement. However, its current structure gives courts an overly powerful early veto and threatens to deny justice through the 180-day extinguishment rule. From Act for Missouri's Christian, constitutional, limited-government perspective, these structural dangers outweigh the benefits. We recommend Opposing this bill.