JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Round one in the legal fight over a proposed tobacco tax ballot measure ends in a draw.
A Cole County judge rejected all of the arguments -- both from supporters and opponents -- seeking to either count or disqualify initiative petition signatures.
The result means that Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's rejection of the initiative still stands.
Carnahan determined that the proposed constitutional amendment fell 274 signatures short of the number required in a Kansas City area congressional district.
But today's ruling by Judge Thomas Brown isn't the end of the matter.
Another hearing is scheduled tomorrow -- and attorneys are expected to make more legal arguments and perhaps argue over whether individual signatures should be counted.
2 comments:
We will never know if there were enough signatures, but everybody should know that government hates initiatives because it takes power from the elite regardless of the party.
Notice there was no challenge to the Springfield audit petition... I suspect it's because if City Council raised a stink, it would look even worse for them than they look right now, with over $1.2 million missing from the Municipal Court and in light of the ham-fisted apartment-construction moratorium (how many of the Council members, Carlson included, own rental property? CLEAR conflict of interest)...
As for the tobacco tax... bad idea. "Sin" taxes are a poor way to control behavior, and this one would also lead to more bootlegged cigarettes on the black market.
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