Our op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader: Don't fall for 'ballot candy' — November ballot measure is attack on local control

Thank you to the Springfield News-Leader for publishing our op-ed in the Sunday edition for maximum readership.

In the upcoming November 2024 election, Missourians will vote on a “trick measure” seemingly banning non-citizens from voting. It’s fair to be confused: that’s been illegal for more than a century. 

Beneath this tricky language lies a more harmful agenda: eroding local control and voters' power to decide electoral processes.

Yet again, the Missouri legislature is using "ballot candy": placing a shiny object in the first line on the ballot, and burying their actual agenda in fine print. Obscuring the real meaning of an amendment is lying — it’s taking away your right to vote for what you actually want. Reading the fine print is important, but you shouldn’t need a law degree to understand what your ballot is really saying. There’s a reason a lot of people skip past the fine print in their daily lives and just click “Accept the Terms and Conditions.” We assume that nothing in the fine print is deliberately trying to take our rights away, but that’s not the case with this ballot measure.

The measure bans voters' and local governments’ ability to decide what voting system they want to use. Specifically, it REQUIRES counties to use a pick-one voting system, in which whoever gets the most votes wins — even if that's only 35%, which is what Eric Greitens received when he "won" the GOP primary for governor in 2016.

The legislature's trick measure would stifle more accurate voting systems like pick-all-you-like, also known as “approval voting” — a system that lets voters choose multiple candidates at the ballot, reflecting the true level of public support for each candidate.

Approval voting is how we already make decisions as groups in our personal lives. When you want to decide what time to see a movie with friends, you might say you’re free at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., or 9 p.m., not just one time of the day. Selecting all options that work for you helps people to cooperate, rather than seeing a movie at 9 p.m. because a small minority of 37% selected it, while 63% were split between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Approval voting isn’t just a theoretical concept; it’s a proven method used by cities in the Midwest and organizations like the American Mathematical Society and the American Statistical Association for their elections. It helps find consensus as a group: When you can select all candidates you approve of, more votes go to unifying, broadly accountable leaders.

But the “trick measure” threatens to roll back this accountability by misleading voters. 

As you prepare to cast your ballot, recognize this measure for what it truly is — an attack on local control and voters' power to hold leaders accountable. "Consent of the governed" requires a system that reflects the will of the people. Don’t let deceptive measures undermine your voice, and keep in mind that this “trick measure” is an attempt to take your freedom away.

Benjamin D. Singer is CEO of Show Me Integrity, a political reform organization in Missouri advocating for more effective, ethical government. Learn more at showmeintegrity.org.

You can read the op-ed on the Springfield News-Leader website here.