A Cole County judge has taken under advisement a request for a temporary restraining order against the Secretary of State to stop her from certifying ballots for November. Judge Dan Green says he will issue a decision later today.

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan

The suit was filed by Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and several GOP lawmakers. They say the ballot language written by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for an issue that would bar state officials from creating a state health insurance exchange without legislative or voter approval is biased and misleading.

Their attorney, Jay Kanzler, argued that with the summary judgement hearing scheduled for August 28, it could be a matter of hours after that, that Secretary of State Robin Carnahan would certify that issue. “If the Secretary of State does certify this ballot on the 28th, and it goes out and the local election officials end up printing that ballot and this court rules that the language is improper, then those ballots have to be reprinted.

The attorney for Carnahan’s position, Jeremiah Morgan, says that argument is moot. “The local election authorities will not be printing those ballots until the presidential primaries are concluded and those candidates are to be included. So the threat of potential reprinting does not exist, certainly until September 13.”

Morgan also argued that the restraining order would go too far, by putting a hold on the entire ballot. “In fact if you read their request for relief, that’s exactly what they seek. That kind of relief is intolerable in these circumstances.”

A summary judgement hearing in the case is scheduled for August 28.