Court Rules for Tobacco Tax Supporters
Filed Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 12:00 PM
BREAKING NEWS
The Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling today allowing the proposal which seeks to raise the state’s tobacco tax more than 400% to pay for health services to stay on the November ballot.
In a unanimous decision the court ruled that the reasons given by local election authorities for not allowing more than 1,000 valid signatures onto the petition were not good enough to prevent its certification.
“Although the implementing statutes are required to be followed, failure to adhere to mere technical formalities should not deny the people the power to propose changes to our laws or amendments to our constitution,” said the ruling.
“Substantial compliance with the implementing statutes is all that is required.”