Although the elections process requires stability, it must accommodate a lot of moving parts.
In an effort to stabilize one problematic variable, state Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, has drafted legislation to create an earlier deadline for finalizing ballot language.
His proposal is a response to the rash of legal challenges that invariably have followed a proliferation of ballot issues, created both by lawmakers and initiative petition efforts.
The courts routinely have recognized the urgency of ballot challenges and have prioritized them accordingly. Still, the procedure may be time consuming as the challenge wends its way through the judiciary's circuit, appellate and supreme levels.
Furthermore, the court battles can't begin until a lawsuit is filed, and state laws tie the timing of those suits to the approval of a petition for circulation or the certification that a petition or legislative proposal will be on the ballot.
In the past, local election authorities have had to reprint ballots. The costs are not inexpensive. Counties this year spent $705,000 reprinting ballots after a judge in September altered the wording of an issue on the November ballot.
An immutable law of elections is voters must decide an issue based on the same language. But not all voters vote at the same time. Absentee and military voting begins six weeks prior to an election.
The senator's proposal would required ballot language to be finalized eight week prior to an election.
Another non-negotiable standard is that judicial review must be preserved. The right to challenge the sufficiency of petitions, to question the fairness of ballot language and to raise other legal issues must be protected.
Consequently, other deadlines may need to be altered, accordingly.
Kraus is an announced candidate for secretary of state in 2016, so political motives will be ascribed to his proposal.
So be it.
A legislative conversation on these issues is needed, and the senator's proposal is a useful starting point.
The challenge for lawmakers will be to adjust procedural deadlines in a way that protects judicial review and preserves the integrity of elections.