JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Jobs with Justice sent a letter to Governor Kehoe today after the Missouri legislature voted yesterday to pass Senate Bill 22, a dangerous effort by politicians to block impartial courts from rewriting deceptive ballot language that is meant to confuse voters. This power grab by the legislature would give partisan politicians power to veto any measure they dislike, allowing them to run out the clock during an election cycle and prevent voters from having their voices heard.
To make matters worse, Senate Bill 22 or the “Let Politicians Lie Act” includes an emergency clause allowing the measure to become effective immediately, without any real justification, upon the signature of the Governor. The inclusion of this emergency declaration without a true crisis is a ploy to bypass normal legislative procedures, and allow the bill to become law without the normal rigorous review or public oversight.
The letter can be viewed HERE and below.
“Senate Bill 22 is meant to undermine the will and power of people and is a prime example of political overreach,” said Abby Herndon, a volunteer with Missouri Jobs with Justice. “When our elected officials don’t help or listen to their constituents, we the people still have a voice and power through the initiative petition process. But now the legislature is trying to rig the system against one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. This bill is destroying the check and balance system and clearly retaliation for the citizens initiative petition success.”
“I wish it was more shocking that politicians in Jefferson City would pass legislation giving themselves more power to undermine the citizen initiative process by lying to voters on the ballot,” said Caitlyn Adams, Executive Director of Missouri Jobs with Justice. “Our state’s current system of checks and balances has worked well to stop the overreach by Missouri politicians, and we should not allow them to further undermine these democratic processes with Senate Bill 22.”
Full text of letter:
Dear Governor Kehoe:
We strongly urge you to veto Senate Bill 22 (“Let Politicians Lie Act”), which is contrary to Missouri’s ability to protect voters from disinformation. We are concerned that the proper analysis has not been undertaken to determine how this legislation will impact democratic processes in Missouri.
State law requires that ballot summary language be “true and impartial”[1] so as to not interfere with elections, ensuring that voters understand as clearly as possible what they are voting for. Missourians are proud that our current initiative petition process is cited as a leading example[2] of how a functioning system of checks and balances subverts disinformation and gives voters the freedom to support policies that work for them regardless of political ideology. This can be seen with Missourians voting to protect Missouri workers rights by overturning Missouri’s Right to Work law[3] and to ensure working families get access to health care by expanding Medicaid[4].
While Missouri’s current and efficient process allows impartial courts to rewrite biased and misleading ballot summary language, Senate Bill 22 gives three chances to rewrite language after the court rules they are attempting to deceive voters. This power should be reserved for those who have demonstrated their dedication to providing the most accurate issue summary for voters on their first draft. Whether or not politicians intend to use heightened power maliciously, Senate Bill 22 enables them three times to skew ballot language and run the clock out for citizen-led campaigns to make it on the ballot. In the past, both Democratic and Republican officials have had ballot summary language rewritten through the courts. It is an even-handed process that maintains the integrity of voting.
We cannot deny the questionable timing of this move by the legislature, which coincides with a pending court case that could permanently overturn Missouri’s abortion ban.
Currently, a preliminary injunction issued by Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang after the passage of Amendment 3[5] is the only item that stands in the way of a near-total abortion ban. The bill would give the Attorney General new power to challenge the preliminary injunction and potentially restore the cruel abortion ban rejected by voters. Ballot summary language on Amendment 3 was heavily debated[6] and ultimately resolved in the courts in months leading up to the November election. Senate Bill 22 now seems like a retaliatory measure leveraged not only against proponents of Amendment 3 who worked to get it on the ballot, but against Missourians who voted to support it.
Senate Bill 22 eliminates current checks and balances that are necessary to ensure accurate ballot summaries — leaving voters with politicized, biased, and deceptive information to make decisions during election cycles. It is a dangerous effort to block courts from rewriting deceptive ballot language that is meant to confuse voters, and it must be stopped. Missourians deserve to have their voices heard. We appreciate your prompt acknowledgement of this letter and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Missouri Jobs with Justice