Ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment banning non-citizen and ranked-choice voting will not be changed, a judge ruled Monday (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).
The ballot language written by lawmakers for a proposed constitutional amendment stating “only citizens of the United States” can vote and banning ranked-choice voting is fair and should be on the Nov. 5 ballot without changes, a Cole County judge ruled Monday.
The “fair ballot language” summary written by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft also correctly conveys the central features of the measure, which will be Amendment 7 on the ballot, Circuit Judge Cotton Walker wrote in an 11-page decision .
The summary statement for the proposal, Walker wrote, “is not untrue or partial, and it does not use language that is intentionally argumentative or likely to create prejudice for the measure nor does it incorrectly describe SJR78.”
Two voters, one from St. Louis and one from Webster Groves, sued over the language, arguing that it is imprecise in its references to the current legal status of non-citizen voting and omits the fact that it is currently illegal in Missouri for non-citizens to vote. The lawsuit named legislative leaders and Ashcroft as defendants in their official capacity for the 50-word summary written by lawmakers and the language intended to give a full description written by Ashcroft.