Missouri Civil Rights Initiative Sues Missouri Secretary of State
From Equality Talk Wiki
caourelrolge Below is the press release from MoCRI.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/26/07 Contact: Tim Asher
âThis is one of the most appalling abuses of a Constitutional Office I have ever seenâ
Grain Valley-Today the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) filed a legal challenge to the unfair and inaccurate Official Ballot Title written by Secretary of State Carnahan and approved by Attorney General Nixon.
On July 19, the Secretary of State certified the MoCRI for the ballot but attached a false and misleading Ballot Title. Language recommended by the MoCRI Committee to the Secretary of State read,
âShall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prohibit any form of discrimination as an act of the state by declaring:
The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting?
The Secretary of State read it this way:
OFFICIAL BALLOT TITLE AS CERTIFIED BY SECRETARY OF STATE
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
ban affirmative action programs designed to eliminate discrimination against, and improve opportunities for, women and minorities in public contracting, employment and education; and allow preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin to meet federal program funds eligibility standards as well as preferential treatment for bona fide qualifications based on sex?
âSecretary of State Carnahan exercised tremendous liberty in drafting this languageâ, stated Tim Asher, Executive Director of MoCRI. âHer directive as outlined by Missouri Statute is to prepare ballot title language that is âtrue and impartialâ and âneither intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice. Misleading statements like this ballot title are standard practice for those who support preferences and unequal treatment. They are afraid to let people vote on the true language since the people always choose fair and equal treatmentâ stated Asher.
Ward Connerly, Chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, who is supporting and assisting the MoCRI, took it even further. âThis is one the most appalling abuses of a Constitutional Office I have ever seen. In California, Washington, and Michigan where identical measures have already been passed by the voters, the Secretaries of State and Attorneys General did not play politics with their sworn duty to protect the voting process. I am alarmed and believe the citizens of Missouri should be worried that their duly elected officials are misleading the voters with false and unfair informationâ Connerly asserted.
A petition was filed today in the circuit court of Cole County legally challenging the ballot title language.
The Missouri Civil Rights Initiative Committee (MoCRI), a Missouri-based ballot initiative committee, is dedicated to providing the people of Missouri the opportunity to end discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin by state or local governments. MoCRI will make Missouri a place of equal opportunity for all, not a state that uses discrimination as a tool to create âdiversity.â Achieving âdiversityâ should never be an excuse to discriminate!
