A legal challenge to Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s decision to toss out two proposed ballot initiatives has been heard by a judge in Jefferson City. The challenge was launched by the group Missourians in Charge, which collected tens of thousands of signatures for two initiatives – one dealing with eminent domain and the other an effort to limit the growth of state government spending. Not long after the signatures were submitted in May, the Secretary of State rejected them on the grounds of incorrect ballot title and the fact some of the pages on which the signatures appear were not sequentially organized. Patrick Tuohey, Missourians in Charges, treasurer, testified in Cole County Circuit Court that if there were problems with some of the pages, only those pages – not all – should be rejected. Representatives of the Secretary of State’s office testified the rules were not followed correctly, so the decision to toss the signatures was the right decision. Judge Richard Callahan has scheduled final arguments for next Friday.
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Missourians in Charge