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March 12, 2021Jefferson City, Mo. |  By: AP

GOP lawmakers want to stop judges from rewriting ballots


JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Some Republican legislators want to ban Missouri judges from rewriting ballot language on proposed constitutional or statutory challenges.

The House gave first-round approval to the proposal Wednesday night. The bill comes after two Missouri courts rewrote the Legislature's ballot language on a redistricting proposal before last year's election.

A Cole County judge and the Missouri Court of Appeals edited the language on the proposal that changed how Missouri was to draw legislative districts.

The amendment passed with 51% of the vote. Rep. John Wiemann, of O'Fallon, said the bill would stop judges from "legislating from the bench," because it is the Legislature's job to write ballot language.