Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green has upheld the arguments of the Missouri Secretary of State and the Attorney General in blocking two voter petitions from the November election ballot.
In his ruling in a case heard Tuesday, Green cites the reasoning of Secretary Denny Hoskins and Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, saying “Today’s voters have the right to consider amendments proposed by the General Assembly; today’s voters cannot strip that right from future voters to insulate the current majority’s policy preferences from future reconsideration. Holding otherwise would sanction a radical alteration of Missouri’s government that undermines the republican guarantee.”
He said, “the proposal violates the Missouri Constitution by combining multiple subjects and its limits on future freedom.”
Attorney Chuck Hatfield argued for Respect Missouri Voters, saying the case is limited to protecting voters’ ability to create a constitutional referendum, independent of the General Assembly, as outlined the Missouri Constitution.
The arguments don’t stop there. This case makes its way to the Missouri Supreme Court. The Missouri Independent details the decision and reports “Respect MO Voters immediately appealed Green’s decision to the Western District Court of Appeals. That would be where it would stay in most situations but the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday reached beyond the appeals court to take an appeal in a redistricting referendum lawsuit directly from the circuit court.”
Judge Green concurred with Hoskins actions in a second, more high-profile case involving a Republican redesign of the state’s Congressional District map. The Missouri Legislature changed the demographics of six districts, most effecting the seat of Democrat Congressman Emanuel Cleaver in the Kansas City area. The voter group, People Not Politicians, challenged the map in a proposed referendum, which was blocked by Secretary Hoskins. He argued that voters cannot challenge congressional maps in the referendum process. This trial involved attorneys for top Republican committees who maintain that “We’ve now had hundreds of thousands of voters in these districts vote and they cannot be disenfranchised by moving the lines afterwards.”
People Not Politicians leader Richard von Glahn says they are ready to move to a higher court in this case: ““The most important thing that happened today is that there was a ruling,” von Glahn said. “The state has tried to slow down the judicial process for months and now that we are out of Cole County, the real decision will be made.”