Archey v. Carnahan, 373 S.W.3d 528

Appellants challenge the summary statement of the Official Ballot Title for a St. Louis municipal police force initiative.
The Initiative Petition would repeal/alter multiple sections and establish a municipal police force with governance and employment provisions.
Secretary of State Carnahan certified the Official Ballot Title after AG and fiscal note review.
The challenge proceeded in circuit court under §116.190; trial court sided with Carnahan and Intervenors.
Case was submitted on stipulated facts; standard of review is de novo per Schroeder v. Horack.
Appellants claim the summary omits two consequences (Sunshine Law exemption and tax-record disclosure); court rejected this narrowing view.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Is the summary fair and sufficient	Appellants contend omissions render it unfair	Carnahan maintains compliance within 100-word limit	Yes; summary is fair and sufficient

Schroeder v. Horack, 592 S.W.2d 742 (Mo. banc 1979) (de novo review on stipulated facts)
Mo. Mun. League v. Carnahan, 303 S.W.3d 573 (Mo. App. W.D.2010) (standard for ballot-title fairness; deference to broader test)
Overfelt v. McCaskill, 81 S.W.3d 732 (Mo. App. W.D.2002) (test for sufficiency of ballot-title language)
Hancock v. Sec’y of State, 885 S.W.2d 42 (Mo. App. W.D.1994) (language must be non-deceptive and fair)
United Gamefowl Breeders Ass’n of Mo. v. Nixon, 19 S.W.3d 137 (Mo. banc 2000) (ballot-title must fairly reflect purposes within the limit)