A redistricting proposal and ethics reform ballot initiative titled Clean Missouri expected to be on November’s ballot is now at risk of being withdrawn.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ordered Sec. of State Jay Ashcroft to rescind the certification of the proposal because it violates the Missouri Constitution because a proposal can only cover one subject and can only amend one article of the Constitution, and the current ballot initiative breaks both of these rules.

Clean Missouri included a redistricting proposal and also proposed lowering campaign donation limits, abolishing a majority of gifts to lobbyists, and setting a two-year revolving door provision for legislators and their staffers before becoming lobbyists.

A lawsuit has been filed to remove a referendum from the Missouri ballot. On August 2, Sec. of State Jay Ashcroft certified an ethics initiative for the November general election ballot.

The proposal would limit legislative gifts from lobbyists, reduce campaign contribution limits for legislative candidates, create a two-year waiting period for public officials seeking to become lobbyists, and establish new procedures for redistricting.

The lawsuit claims the proposed referendum violates a provision of the Missouri Constitution limiting ballot measures to a single subject.

Combining multiple subjects in a single ballot measure can force voters to vote for a matter they do not support just to enact a proposal they do support.