Independent Voter Network: “Missouri Lawmakers Declare War on Ballot Initiative Process”

“The ballot initiative process is under attack in Missouri. New laws are making their way through the state legislature that would make it harder -- if not impossible -- for voters to decide for themselves what direction they want their state’s government and elections to take.

‘Politicians are trying to dramatically limit our constitutional freedom to access and use the citizen initiative process, while telling us it’s for our own good. This is nothing more than a deceitful attempt to take power from us and give it to themselves,’ said Benjamin Singer, executive director of the cross-partisan group Show Me Integrity.

‘The initiative process is already difficult. In 2020, 148 initiative and referendum petitions were filed. Only 77 were approved to circulate. Only three ended up on the ballot,’ the organization states. 

“Gathering signatures is slow, hard, and can only be done in good weather. It takes thousands of hardworking citizens to get something on the ballot, and hundreds of thousands of people all over the state--rural, urban, and suburban--to sign it. And as you know, it doesn’t often succeed.”

Show Me Integrity, along with several partner organizations, hosted a Protect the Ballot Initiative Rally and Advocacy Day Wednesday in Jefferson City to protest these bills. It was an opportunity for voters to talk directly with lawmakers and demand they protect the ballot initiative process, not destroy it.”

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