Missouri
A Columbia group that opposes police use of Tasers plans to ask city voters to support a 2010 ballot initiative against the weapons. The Coalition to Control Tasers has long sought restrictions on the Columbia Police Department’s use of stun guns. Police Chief Kenneth Burton responded to the group’s efforts in April with a revised policy that adopted more than 50 guidelines outlined by a national police executive group.
The Lindbergh School District faces a challenging task this Nov. 3 when it works to convince voters to cast their ballots in favor of Proposition L. Voters in the Lindbergh School District will go to the polls Nov. 3 to decide the merits of Proposition L — a complicated piece of legislation that may leave some voters scratching their heads.
Planned Parenthood sued the state Wednesday to object to the language in two proposed anti-abortion, anti-stem-cell funding ballot initiatives. The lawsuits, filed in Cole County Circuit Court, seek to stop the approval of language for a ballot initiative that would allow the Legislature to limit funding to any organization that supported abortion or certain types of controversial stem cell research and another proposal that would create a new definition of when life begins, in effect outlawing abortion and likely even certain forms of birth control.
With only two issues on the ballot ”” a smoking ban and a sales tax ”” most people are expected to stay home or find something else to do on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3. “Historically, we can expect under 25 percent, but we don’t really know,” said Dave Reinhart, Republican director of the Clay County Election Board.
It’s entirely too early to be able to determine how many ballot initiatives Missouri voters will see on the November 2010 ballot, but they will have plenty of opportunity to sign petitions at the grocery store between now and May. Two more ballot initiatives were approved for circulation by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office this week, both connected to the issue of abortion. There are currently 19 such ballot petitions approved for circulation, though few of those are expected to get the number of signatures necessary to actually be put before voters.
State officials have given the go-ahead for circulation of an initiative petition that would seek to severely limit insurers’ abilities to steer members away from certain health care providers. The petition by the group Missourians United for Choice in Healthcare would amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit state-regulated health insurers from influencing the selection of a care provider through higher co-pays or reimbursements and from limiting a provider’s opportunity to offer services according to terms of an offered health benefit plan.
Clay Chastain will hold a news conference Wednesday at noon — and then begin gathering signatures for a new light rail plan to go on the ballot sometime next year. The plan has changed since July, when Chastain offered a light rail blueprint that would be paid for in part by a 3/8ths cent, 25-year Kansas City sales tax. The biggest change: Chastain has dropped a proposed $500 million, 25-year contribution from “regional” governments, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties, as well as Lee’s Summit, Raytown, and other communities.
An initiative petition that seeks to put early voting on the November 2010 ballot has been approved for circulation by Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Jo Sapp of Columbia submitted the petition.
A potential initiative for the 2010 ballot seeks to require partisan elections for all judges in Missouri. The new proposal is the second initiative put forward by the group Better Courts for Missouri. Its earlier version would allow governors to appoint whomever they choose to the appellate courts and urban trial courts, with the consent of the Senate.
A proposal for the 2010 ballot would give Missourians the choice of voting early in future elections. Missouri voters now may cast absentee ballots only if they swear they cannot vote on Election Day. An initiative approved for circulation by the secretary of state’s office would create a 17-day, early voting period before elections with no excuses needed.
The Missouri Roundtable for Life, an anti-abortion group, has filed another ballot proposal in an attempt to block public funding for a type of stem-cell research it considers cloning. The effort follows the roundtable’s earlier attempts at putting a ballot initiative before voters, including one that prompted the group to sue Secretary of State Robin Carnahan over ballot language.
A local business woman and her son started a petition drive Monday to force the city to put security cameras in public areas. Karen Taylor is the force behind the petition, and the drive follows an attack on her son in a downtown parking garage last June.
A contentious political battle that ended in Greene County voters approving the non-partisan selection of judges in November could be ramping up again. The group Better Courts for Missouri, a long-time opponent of the Missouri nonpartisan court plan, recently gained approval to circulate a petition that could lead to the plan being scrapped throughout the state.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced today that a new initiative petition met state standards for circulation that would change the state Constitution to repeal the nonpartisan court plan.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley signed a bill on Friday to put a Washington University-backed smoking ban referendum on the November ballot, following weeks of heated County Council meetings and public debate. “If you had asked me two months ago if I thought the voters in St. Louis County would have this opportunity in November, I would have said no,” said Robert Blaine, a medical public policy specialist at the University. “So I think it’s a significant step forward.”