{"id":4601,"date":"2025-09-04T20:07:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/04\/as-few-as-5-of-voters-could-defeat-initiative-petitions-under-missouri-gop-legislation-2\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T20:07:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:07:34","slug":"as-few-as-5-of-voters-could-defeat-initiative-petitions-under-missouri-gop-legislation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/04\/as-few-as-5-of-voters-could-defeat-initiative-petitions-under-missouri-gop-legislation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"As few as 5% of voters could defeat initiative petitions under Missouri GOP legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly, presents his proposal to require majorities in every congressional district to vote in favor of proposals put on the ballot by initiative petition in order for them to pass (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications).<\/p>\n

A <\/span>proposal<\/span><\/a> that would make it virtually impossible for voters to change the constitution or state law through the initiative petition process cleared a Missouri House committee Thursday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly, largely mirrors <\/span>a request from Gov. Mike Kehoe<\/span><\/a> to require a majority of voters in all of Missouri\u2019s eight congressional districts and a statewide majority in order to pass a constitutional amendment or state law on the ballot. <\/span><\/p>\n

This means a very small percentage of statewide voters in just one district could defeat a ballot measure and it would only apply to citizen-led initiatives, not those placed on the ballot by the legislature. <\/span>Based on <\/span>last year\u2019s general election<\/span><\/a>, where 2,960,266 votes were cast for governor and only 311,915 in the 1st District, under the proposed change only 156,000 voters could defeat ballot question \u2014 or just shy of 5.3% of the statewide vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

If approved by lawmakers, the proposed constitutional amendment debated Thursday would go on the statewide ballot and require a simple majority to be enacted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri is one of <\/span>24 states<\/span><\/a> that allows citizen initiative petitions. They can be used to either amend the constitution or change state law, though the path to successfully doing so is often <\/span>arduous and expensive<\/span><\/a>, requiring tens of thousands of signatures to even land on the ballot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past few years alone, a majority of Missourians voted to legalize abortion and recreational marijuana and to increase minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave through the initiative petition process, all issues opposed by the Republican-dominated legislature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These ballot measures, Lewis said, compelled him to sponsor legislation raising the threshold for passing initiative petitions. He pointed specifically to a 2022 amendment legalizing recreational marijuana use.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe voices of those voters in less populated counties were not heard and were overwhelmed by the few heavily populated counties,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis also criticized a constitutional amendment passed last November that overturned Missouri\u2019s abortion ban.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis (abortion) amendment didn\u2019t pass in most areas in Missouri, and I believe, would not have passed in even half of the congressional districts,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last November, the <\/span>abortion rights amendment won<\/span><\/a> with just shy of <\/span>52% of the vote<\/span><\/a> by drawing support from the state\u2019s urban and more populous areas. Voters in all but eight of Missouri\u2019s 115 counties opposed the amendment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis said the current process disenfranchises rural Missouri because it doesn\u2019t require \u201cbroad geographic support.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery last inch of the state of Missouri needs to be represented when we\u2019re changing the constitution,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

State lawmakers are considering the resolution <\/span>alongside a proposal to gerrymander the state\u2019s congressional districts<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Eric Woods, a Kansas City Democrat, said the two issues could not be \u201cdecoupled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf your concern is that certain underpopulated or rural parts of the state don\u2019t have a voice and are using congressional districts as a (corrective) measure,\u201d he said. \u201cIf that is important for a ballot measure, how does that argument fly when we\u2019re about to pass a map joining downtown Kansas City to rural Webster County 200 miles away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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State Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, speaks during Thursday\u2019s hearing on proposed changes to the initiative petition process (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Democrat from Columbia, said the changes to the initiative petition process would remove a pathway for Missourians to remedy redistricting they believe is unfair.<\/span><\/p>\n

A slew of initiative petitions have been approved for circulation this year ahead of the 2026 General Election. Many <\/span>focus on preserving the current initiative petition process.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The state\u2019s initiative petition process has been in place since 1908, when it was approved by a majority of voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole special session is insidious,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBecause it is not just about the initiative process, it\u2019s also about redistricting\u2026 The two go hand in hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis said he didn\u2019t believe the two are \u201clinked.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His legislation also seeks to bar ballot measure campaigns from accepting contributions from citizens of countries deemed \u201cforeign adversaries\u201d of the United States. Kehoe\u2019s request called for banning contributions from \u201cforeign nationals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor far too long, Missouri\u2019s Constitution has been the victim of out-of-state special interests who deceive voters to pass out-of-touch policies,\u201d Kehoe said in a statement last week. \u201cIt\u2019s time we give voters a chance to protect our Constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, Kehoe signed into law \u200b\u200ba <\/span>restriction on foreign spending on state ballot measures.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Smith said the inclusion of proposals seeking to ban things that are already illegal is simply \u201cballot candy\u201d seeking to deceive voters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to load this up with all this other stuff as a charade to trick people because no one is going to vote for this resolution if they knew exactly what it is going to be,\u201d Smith said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis rejected that claim, saying contributions from foreign adversaries were not yet illegal when he began sponsoring initiative-petition reform legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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