St. Louis Public Radio: “Voting Rights Groups Push Missouri Lawmakers To Stop Legislation They Say Is Restrictive”

“A broad coalition of groups including the League of Women Voters, the ACLU and Empower Missouri came to the Capitol on Wednesday to lobby against bills they say take away the rights of voters.

Lawmakers are considering proposals to require a two-thirds supermajority to pass ballot initiatives instead of a simple majority, shorten the period of time to gather signatures and double the number of signatures required to get initiatives on the ballot.

The activists point to the Missouri Constitution as specifically allowing for ballot initiatives and argue that any move to undermine that is illegal.

‘Big-money special interests and lobbyists have taken over our political system,’ said Bob Johnson, a former Republican state representative and senator from Lee’s Summit. ‘And now they want to severely limit the citizen initiative process because they know that it’s the only way for citizens to directly propose amendments that could reduce their power and influence.’”

Read the full story on its original platform here.