Citizens for a Healthy Missouri v. Blunt

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Citizens for a Healthy Missouri v. Blunt is a successful signature recovery lawsuit filed in 2002 to rehabilitate or recover signatures filed to qualify the Missouri Tobacco Tax Proposition for the November 2002 ballot in Missouri.

The plaintiffs prevailed.

Background

In August 2002, then-Attorney General Matt Blunt rejected 2,399 petition signatures from the Second Congressional District, leaving the initiative's sponsors 673 short of the 15,086 required in that district. This meant that according to Missouri signature requirements, especially their distribution requirement, the measure's sponsors had failed to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

Upon further review, 601 of those 2,399 signatures were validated, leaving Citizens for a Healthy Missouri just 72 short of the requirement. After hearing testimony from a handwriting expert and the St. Charles County Clerk, a judge ruled that at least 72 of the 1,600 remaining disputed signatures were genuine, and ordered the amendment onto the ballot, where it ultimately failed.