A Missouri appeals court panel rewrote the ballot summary Monday for an early-voting proposal, ruling that the wording approved by lawmakers was misleading because it failed to mention the measure is contingent upon funding.
A proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot will ask Missouri voters whether to authorize a no-excuses-needed early voting period for future general elections. The six-day voting period would be limited to business hours on weekdays.
In its ruling Monday, a panel of the Western District appeals court said the summary prepared by the Legislature failed to note the early voting period would occur only if the Legislature and governor provide funding for it.
"We have little doubt that the current summary statement would lead voters to believe that, should the amendment pass, early voting will be permitted in all future general elections in Missouri," the appeals panel wrote. "That is not the effect of the proposed amendment, however. ... The current summary statement is insufficient and unfair for failing to make reference to the funding contingency."
The appeals court ordered additional wording to be included in the ballot summary.
The rewritten ballot summary will state: "Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to permit voting in person or by mail for a period of six business days prior to and including the Wednesday before the election day in general elections, but only if the legislature and the governor appropriate and disburse funds to pay for the increased costs of such voting?"
The legal challenge to the measure had been brought by an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of civil rights leaders Norman Seay and Nimrod Chapel.
The lawsuit argued that the court should simply strike the measure from the ballot if it decided the Legislature's summary was unfair. But the appeals court rejected that approach, concluding it has the authority to rewrite the wording.
ACLU attorney Tony Rothert said he nonetheless was pleased with the ruling.
"What is most important is that voters be given an honest description of the amendment that they are being asked to make to the constitution," Rothert said.
The attorney general's office said it was reviewing the decision.
Attorney Marc Ellinger, who represented Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, said lawmakers had not decided whether to appeal.
Missouri's Republican-led Legislature referred the early voting measure to the ballot, while interest groups affiliated with Democrats were pursuing an initiative petition that would have created a more expansive 42-day early voting period, including on some weekends. But that measure failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.