Secretary of State Robin Carnahan just announced that her office has approved for circulation the ballot proposal to do away with Missouri’s current system for appointing judges in the urban areas and to the higher courts.

Advanced by “Better Courts for Missouri” (the latest version of a series of groups formed in the last 18 months), the proposal calls for (according to Carnahan’s ballot description):

–removing all current members of the nonpartisan judicial selection commissions and giving sole authority to the Governor to appoint new members subject to Senate consent;

–increasing the number of judicial nominees submitted by the commissions from three to five and allowing the Governor to veto the first list of nominees;

– transferring from the Missouri Supreme Court to the Governor’s appointed commissions the authority to establish rules governing commission actions; and

–making certain information regarding judicial nominees and the selection process publicly available?

The ballot proposal will need from 140,000 to 150,000 signatures from registered voters to get on Missouri’s ballot, Carnahan’s office said.