Supreme Court of Missouri / Feb 8, 2022
No Bans on Choice, American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, and Sara E. Baker, Respondents, vs. John R. Ashcroft, in his official capacity as Missouri Secretary of State, Appellant.
Sara Baker, the ACLU of Missouri, and No Bans on Choice challenged the constitutional validity of sections 116.180 and 116.334.2, which prohibit collecting referendum petition signatures before the Secretary of State certifies the official ballot title. The circuit court issued a declaratory judgment invalidating the statutes, finding they interfered with the right of referendum. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the statutes unreasonably shorten the timeframe for petition circulation, thereby interfering with and impeding the constitutional right of referendum.