Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan has refused to order the Secretary of State to put the same-sex marriage ban amendment on the August ballot. The Attorney General is immediately appealing to the State Supreme Court, asking it to order Secretary of State Matt Blunt to obey Governor Holden’s order setting an August election date. In a statement issued by the Attorney General’s office, Jay Nixon said “We need a timely, definitive resolution on these legal issues. Therefore, within an hour of the trial court ruling, we have asked the state Supreme Court to bring certainty to this important public policy question. We have sought an immediate preliminary order, briefing, and a decision in time to comply with the ballot certification and distribution deadlines set by Missouri statute.” Republican legislative leaders are refusing to sign the resolution in time for it to be put on the primary ballot. Holden says he does not need their signatures on the actual resolution to set the election date. Secretary of State Matt Blunt’s Communications Director, Spence Jackson, issued the following statement, “The law is clear. The law has been upheld. This office will continue to comply with the law. We must not permit any governor to start playing games with election laws.” The Missouri House of Representatives approved the Senate Joint Resolution in the last half hour of the last day of the legislative session. Senate President Peter Kinder (R-Cape Girardeau) has refused to sign the resolution and says he will not sign it until May 28th, three days after the deadline for issues to be placed on the August ballot. The resolution asks Missouri voters to decide whether current state law, defining marriage as being between one man and one woman, should be placed into the state constitution.
