Our weekly program, Making Democracy Work, is a collaboration between KSMU Radio and the League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri. It's hosted and produced by volunteers from the LWV, and it airs each Monday morning at 9:45 on KSMU.
In this episode, Erika Fox speaks with April Hicks with Respect MO Voters.
Fox: Recently, Amendment 4 was on the Missouri ballot. To kind of sum it up, it basically looked to amend the Missouri Constitution to increase the requirements for citizen initiative petitions, making it so that they have to pass by all eight districts instead of the current six districts. Obviously, as we all kind of know, that amendment failed, and it actually failed overwhelmingly by voters. It was defeated with more than 80% of voters saying no. Can you share more about how the current initiative petition process works across the state and locally now that that has failed?
Hicks: You know, I love that you mentioned that. I think the results of Amendment 4 were remarkable. To have more than 80% of voters reject the idea that making it harder for citizens to use the initiative petition process is staggering. Whatever our political differences, that tells us Missourians value having a direct voice in our government and a check on the power of politicians when the government doesn't reflect the will of the people. Now, that's really what Respect MO Voters is all about, is making sure that voice is available to future generations.
Our initiative petition process in Missouri is a constitutionally protected right that dates back 118 years, and it is not an easy process. Before signatures can even be collected, a proposed measure has to go through a rigorous review process and obtain approval from the Secretary of State. Then, organizers have to collect enough valid signatures to qualify in six of Missouri's eight congressional districts in order to ensure statewide support. Those signatures are then verified by local election authorities, and the secretary of state determines whether there are enough of them to qualify for the ballot. And then, even after surviving all of that, the measure still has to be approved by a majority of Missouri voters. So, there are a lot of checks and balances already built into this process before voters ever see something on their ballot.
Fox: It feels like it's a very involved process, and voters don't always kind of know the behind the scenes. So, as someone who's worked on some of these, what's been the biggest challenge in educating voters about how the citizen initiative process works and the biggest roadblocks to getting an initiative even put on the ballot?
Hicks: Honestly, one of the biggest challenges has been the spread of misinformation about just how difficult and expensive the process already is. Getting a measure on a ballot is an enormous endeavor, and it takes significant resources and dedicated volunteers. Respect MO Voters had nearly 2,000 volunteers put boots on the ground to gather signatures. We sacrificed Saturdays, gave up time with our families and volunteered in all kinds of weather — even temperatures so cold that the ink was literally freezing in our pens. And we gathered more than 376,000 signatures to put Amendment 6 on the ballot.
But those signature gatherers were just a piece of the puzzle, and volunteers were organizing teams, notarizing and transporting petitions, verifying signatures, managing communications and doing countless other jobs. And that's not even mentioning the fundraising because all of that costs money, and citizens shouldn't have to be wealthy to exercise a constitutional right. But the reality is that mounting a statewide initiative campaign requires an enormous amount of fundraising and volunteer effort.
And there's one more challenge I think people don't always anticipate and that's resistance from our politicians. The process exists as citizens have a way to make our voices heard when our elected officials aren't listening. But when we exercise that right, we can find ourselves facing serious pushback from the very people whose power we are asking the voters to check.
Fox: And just to point of clarification, because you mentioned misinformation, this is all done locally through local organizations, people like yourself who live in Missouri, correct?
Hicks: Absolutely. We held town halls statewide before we even kicked this off to ensure that we had support starting in rural Missouri.
Fox: Voters are all a little exhausted but can still get involved. How can they continue to be a part of this process and get more information about what's coming up in November?
Hicks: Well, I tell everyone first, if you want to be involved, check your voter registration. It's super easy. You can go to sos.mo.gov and make sure you're registered and that your information is correct. And remember that Missouri's voter registration deadline for the November election is October 7. Don't rely on social media. Look at multiple sources, read the actual ballot language whenever possible, and the League of Women Voters is an excellent, nonpartisan place for information. Also, if you're interested in the Respect MO Voters amendment, please visit us at respectmovoters.org where you'll find everything to know about our Yes on 6 campaign as well as opportunities to donate, volunteer and stay informed as we work toward November.