JEFFERSON CITY – Robin Carnahan’s incompetence and politically motivated use of her office continues after she denied voters the right to decide ballot measures that would protect personal property rights and limit state government spending.

Carnahan’s decision yesterday to bar ballot measures restricting the use of eminent domain and capping state spending was caused by her failure to read state law. When she finally got around to doing her job, she made a last minute change to the petition deadline just weeks before they were due.

“It is a disgrace and embarrassment to all Missourians that Robin Carnahan has taken the unprecedented step of unilaterally denying people their right to decide these important issues because of her consistent incompetence as secretary of state,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “It’s also disturbing that Carnahan waited until late on a Thursday afternoon before a holiday weekend to make her wayward decision public.”

Carnahan’s steady record of foul ups include waiting until the last minute to certify Republican state Sen. Scott Rupp’s election after blaming the Lincoln County clerk for the delay and being blasted by Democrat Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren for failing to meet federal election database requirements after Carnahan previously failed to update the database as required by federal and state law.

Carnahan’s decision to bar the ballot measures is also a transparent political attempt to get fellow Democrat Claire McCaskill off the hook for mistakes McCaskill made on financial summaries for both measures. A Cole County judge ruled last month that the financial summary prepared by McCaskill for the eminent domain measure was "insufficient and unfair," while McCaskill’s office admitted in court this month that it mistakenly reversed labels on a financial table projecting state revenues and spending limits on the spending cap measure. McCaskill later claimed that there was no mistake.

“Robin Carnahan has used her office to cover for Claire McCaskill’s incompetence in an inexcusable use of power and political maneuvering,” Sloca said. “Carnahan and McCaskill are so focused on politics that their job performances have been nothing short of abysmal and it is Missouri taxpayers who are suffering.”