An effort to preserve secret-ballot elections when forming labor unions could land on everyone’s ballot in Missouri and a handful of other states.

The national advocacy group, Save our Secret Ballot, announced plans on Tuesday in Jefferson City, Mo., to put an amendment to the Missouri Constitution before voters in 2010 that guarantees secret ballots in all state and federal elections, and those that authorize employee representation.

“Who knew this wasn’t a guaranteed right?” asked state Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, a Save our Secret Ballot Missouri advisory board member. “Congress is trying to take away (our) protection.”

The organization plans similar ballot initiatives to undermine the proposed Employee Free Choice Act — which died in Congress in 2007 — in Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada and Utah, but a Northwest Missouri labor representative saw the campaign as a distortion of the measure’s intentions.

“Now they’re calling this the destruction of the secret ballot. That’s egregious,” said Bill Caldwell, a union Democrat who chairs the party’s central committee in Buchanan County.

Unions are banking on the influence of President-elect Barack Obama and a stronger Democratic majority to help finally pass the act, which they’ve dubbed as their top 2009 priority, The Associated Press reported.

Unions are calling for the new law so secret-ballot elections no longer will be required to form unions, a move to increase membership.

Employees now sign union membership cards to trigger an organizing process. If more than 50 percent do so, employers can opt to hold a secret-ballot election for employees to officially vote on whether to organize.

During this period, which Mr. Caldwell described as a “brainwashing catechism,” he contended employers often offer to increase benefits and pay to pressure workers for a no vote. Ultimately, he said, fewer people vote in favor of the union in the elections than signed the membership cards.

Without the elections, however, Save our Secret Ballot officials, who represent small businesses and entrepreneurs, argue that unions will intimidate employees early on to sign the cards.

Patt Lilly, who served as St. Joseph’s city manager when clerical and other city employees attempted to unionize in the mid-1990s, said the period between the card signatures and the secret-ballot election is crucial to the whole process.

City workers eventually voted down the union.

“It’s certainly important that employees of a company have the opportunity to learn the advantages and disadvantages of (joining) a union and then cast a vote. I think the current process supports that,” Mr. Lilly said. “If the process isn’t broken, why do we need to fix it?”

Save our Secret Ballot must provide a ballot summary and financial estimate to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. After approval, the group can begin to seek the roughly 151,000 signatures needed to put the amendment to voters in 2010.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.