Every year, hundreds of thousands of signatures are collected from Missourians in almost every congressional district in order to place a proposal on the ballot. Countless hours are poured into each proposed initiative, from circulating petitions to counting and verifying each signature. Once it’s been vetted and approved by the Secretary of State, the initiative is then placed on the ballot for us to vote on.

The ballot initiative process serves as an important part of our democracy by giving voters the freedom to have a say on the laws that govern us. Through the initiative process, we have secured major wins for our communities including expanding Medicaid and raising the minimum wage. The passage of these initiatives has helped thousands of families in our state and strengthened our state's overall economy. Changing the initiative petition process will have a direct impact on the most vulnerable populations in our state. Any attempts to place impediments on our initiative power should be viewed as attacks on our democracy and our communities.

Since the start of the legislative session, 17 bills have been introduced in the legislature to destroy the initiative petition process. Each of these proposals silence voters and hinder progress. These bills target the independence of the initiative petition process by making direct participation more difficult.

Whether it’s increasing the threshold of votes needed to pass or raising the number of signatures required, these attacks only serve to restrict our ability to enact change independent of our state legislators.

In order to protect this process, we must demand that our legislators vote down these proposals. Sign on to join us!