A Cole County judge has rewritten ballot language voters would see for a proposed measure dealing with Missouri’s congressional districts.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by People Not Politicians, a group leading the charge to ask Missouri voters whether the new Congressional boundaries should be overturned. The case challenged how the Secretary of State’s office described the measure in the official ballot summary, arguing the wording was biased and could mislead voters.
People Not Politicians Executive Director Richard von Glahn said the judge agreed that parts of the original language were problematic — and went even further than the Secretary of State in revising it.
The judge removed language that described Missouri’s old congressional map as “gerrymandered” and said it protects incumbents. The ruling also stripped wording claiming the new districts would “better reflect Missouri voting patterns,” which the judge found to be argumentative and prejudicial.
While those phrases were removed, the revised ballot summary still describes the proposed congressional map as more compact and better at keeping cities and counties together.
Von Glahn said the group believes the language still does not fully explain how the proposed map would affect different parts of the state.
“I think in describing it, it’s more accurate to say that one thing has changed in one direction and another in a different district might have changed in a different direction for voters to really understand that,” he said.
People Not Politicians now has until May 18 to appeal the judge’s decision and request further changes to the ballot language. Von Glahn said the group is weighing its options and expects an appeal is likely, though no paperwork has been filed yet.
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