Court plan supporters: Poll shows voters would reject repeal

Backers of the Nonpartisan Court Plan released results from a poll that says voters would reject proposals to repeal it.

Of the 445 registered voters surveyed, 58 percent said they would vote no on the proposed constitutional amendments, according to a press release from Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts. Eighteen percent said they would vote yes.

20/20 Insight conducted the telephone poll Oct. 10 and Oct. 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.6 percent, the press release said.

The petitions approved for circulation by Secretary of State Jason Kander call for elections of judges for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. The petitions also would increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court from seven to nine.

Currently, a judicial commission — composed of three lawyers elected by the lawyers of The Missouri Bar, three citizens selected by the governor, and the chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court — selects a panel of three candidates and the governor chooses a judge from the candidates.

The survey question that resulted in the 58 percent “no” result quoted from the ballot language, leaving out the information on increasing the number of Supreme Court judges.

John Elliott, a Smithville resident who submitted the petitions, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts includes retired judges and a coalition of community organizations.