The ballot summary that you’ll see when you vote, as determined by the Missouri legislature, is:
“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Make the constitution consistent with state law by only allowing citizens of the United States to vote;
- Prohibit the ranking of candidates by limiting voters to a single vote per candidate or issue; and
- Require the plurality winner of a political primary to be the single candidate at a general election?”
Legislators start the wording with a provision that non-citizens can’t vote. That’s already the law.
This idea has been called “ballot candy” because it’s expected to sweeten the deal — to draw yes votes without voters paying attention to the rest of the bill.
Here’s reasoning reported in the Missouri Independent, May 17, 2024:
Sen. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, speaking for the Freedom Caucus at a news conference, defended the ballot candy provisions as giving voters a simpler question, easier to understand than . . . as a standalone:
“You would have to have a lot of intensive funding to be able to get a message out, because (the initiative petition process) is a very convoluted, difficult thing to explain to voters,” Brattin said. “And we wanted to make sure we’re putting stuff in front of people that’s easy, that doesn’t require $60 million to try to get the message out.”
In other words, distracting the voters from what they’re actually voting on is the point.
A reporter immediately responded, “Doesn’t that define ballot candy?”
The remark the newspaper quotes is here:
There was a lawsuit filed, arguing that the wording was deceptive, but it was unsuccessful.
If they really cared . . .
If legislators have a genuine concern that stopping non-citizen voting be not merely a statute but set in the Missouri constitution, then there was nothing keeping them from putting that on the ballot by itself. Voters could then vote it up or down.
Adding it as the first thing when the actual amendment is about something else entirely is not helpful to democratic decision-making. Battin complained about other cases of ballot measures he opposes also using ballot candy. That would be a problem for those initiatives as well. That doesn’t make it right for this amendment.
But it could also work in reverse: those who would like to have this non-citizen non-voting provision pass could rightly resent the legislators tacking it on to something that may be voted down.
Media reports and opinion pieces that have commented on the issue of deceptive language:
MO measure bans non-citizen voting. Critics say it’s ‘deceptive’ by Kacen Bayless and Jonathan Shorman, The Kansas City Star, May 22, 2024
Missouri politicians put a trick measure on the November ballot to silence your voice by Benjamin D. Singer, The Kansas City Star, June 23, 2024
Don’t fall for ‘ballot candy’ — November ballot measure is attack on local control by Benjamin D. Singer, The Springfield News-Leader, August 11, 2024
