News Tribune: “Rallygoers: Ballot initiative is vital check on Capitol”

“A rally against proposed changes to the ballot initiative process in Missouri drew several dozen to the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday morning.

The event was staged by Show Me Integrity - ‘a cross- partisan movement for more effective, ethical government of, by and for the people,’ according to its website - and some of its partner organizations. The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, League of Women Voters, ACLU and others all had a hand in the effort.

Initiative petitions are a means to hold lawmakers accountable to the will of the people, rallygoers said.

‘Whether you're here for health care or taxes or the fundamental freedom of every Missourian, we all know that the ballot initiative process is the way that we can keep that check on the Legislature to make sure they are doing the will of the people back home,’ Benjamin Singer, Show Me Integrity's executive director, told the crowd.

‘There is a saying that goes, 'The most important office in a democracy is not president, not prime minister or governor or mayor. It is the citizen," said Angie Dunlap, president of the St. Louis League of Women voters. "[The proposed bills] are all efforts that are contrary to the idea that voters have the most important role in our democracy.’”

Read the full story on its original platform here.