Dictionary definitions loom in fight over summary of Missouri redistricting proposal

Exactly what Missouri voters read when they cast their ballots this fall on a proposal to repeal recent redistricting reforms could turn on definitions of words like “create,” “independent” and “citizen.”

Missouri Court of Appeals judges listened to 30 minutes of oral arguments Friday over the ballot summary of Amendment 3, a Republican-backed effort to roll back some of the most significant changes to the state constitution approved by voters in 2018 as part of the Clean Missouri initiative.

Missouri Solicitor General John Sauer and Chuck Hatfield, an attorney representing residents who have sued to change the summary, squared off over whether the court should order the wording approved by lawmakers to appear on the ballot or uphold new wording from a Cole County judge who found the first version unfair.

The judges didn’t say when they will rule. The legal fight comes as Missouri faces a ticking clock to finalize the ballot language. The state faces a hard deadline of Sept. 8 for changes, officials say.

Under Clean Missouri, which voters approved overwhelmingly, a non-partisan state demographer will draw new legislative district maps following the 2020 census. The maps will be reviewed by a citizen commission that can make changes only if 70 percent of its members approve.

It’s a departure from the state’s previous system, in which commissions appointed by Republican and Democratic committees and the governor crafted maps.

Amendment 3 would replace the redistricting process approved under Clean Missouri with a Republican-supported plan that largely takes the state back to the old method.

But it would also require maps to be drawn on the basis of “one person, one vote.” Election law experts have said that requirement could lead to the exclusion of non-voters, such as children and some immigrants. Republicans have downplayed the significance of the change.

The ballot summary approved by lawmakers says Amendment 3 will “Create citizen-led independent bipartisan commissions” to draw districts that will be based on “minority voter protection, compactness, competitiveness, fairness” and other criteria.

“This ballot title is infected with argument,” Hatfield said. “It’s not just one particular sentence, it’s an entire plan to put forward arguments and sentences that make the voter want to vote for something and it departs from the facts.”

Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce previously ruled that nearly every aspect of the wording summarizing the redistricting changes is “wrong or misleading.” The amendment doesn’t create anything, she said, adding that it only renames two legislative commissions that already exist.

Joyce wrote in her Aug. 17 decision that the word “independent” implies commissioners will be independent of the political process but added that won’t be the case under the amendment. Missouri Republicans appealed the ruling, leading to the Court of Appeals arguments.

Sauer said Friday the language isn’t argumentative. A look at the dictionary definition of words such as “create” and “independent” supports the accuracy of the legislative-approved summary, he said.

“The notion that it’s argumentative is kind of hard to fathom,” Sauer said.

Take, for example, the word “create,” he said. There’s “no question” the commissions are a new form, he said, adding that in one instance they will have twice the number of members and have different responsibilities than before.

Judge Alok Ahuja pressed Sauer over the word “citizen,” questioning what – beyond a prohibition on commission members serving in the General Assembly for four years -- assures commissioners will be citizens “as opposed to anything else?”

Sauer appeared to argue that the only limitation would be that commissioners must live in the appropriate congressional district and can’t be members of the General Assembly.

He said the state’s position is that for the purposes of the commissions, the natural connotation of citizen is that “you’re not a specialized functionary of the state.”

“In this particular case, the relevant specialized functionary for redistricting would be a member of the Legislature,” Sauer said.

When Joyce issued her ruling last week, she ordered the ballot summary changed to ask whether the Missouri Constitution will be amended to “Repeal rules for drawing state legislative districts approved by voters in November 2018 and replace them with rules proposed by the legislature.”

The Court of Appeals will decide whether the new language stands.

This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 12:28 PM.