CROSS PARTISAN COALITION FIGHTING FOR EVERY VOTER
We are a grassroots, volunteer-led campaign working to protect the citizen led initiative petition process and make our government work for everyday Missourians. We’re building a more ethical, effective government of, by, and for the people and we need your help!
Our Mission
When it comes to votes by citizens on ballot measures, including anti-corruption initiatives, Missouri politicians have weaponized ballot language and attacked the will of the people. Overturning. Tricking. Delaying. Blocking. Taking away Missourians’ power.
We won’t let politicians decide our state’s future. Our purpose is to ensure a government of, by, and for the people—not for the politicians. Our organization town halls across the state where 1,000 Missourians gathered to make their voices heard.
Missourians want politicians to stop overturning our votes. We also want to safeguard our right to use the initiative process, and we want clear and accurate ballot language. That’s what’s our initiative petition will do.
What is an Initiative Petition?
Citizen initiative, ballot measure, initiative petition - these all mean the same thing.
When legislators fail to do their jobs, the initiative petition is the constitutional right we the people use to make them.
It's largely 3 big steps
1) Write an amendment or law
2) Gather enough signatures from voters (around 300,000) to qualify for the ballot
3) Vote YES to pass the amendment or law
In our case, it will be a state constitutional amendment and it will be on the ballot in 2026.
Do you have more questions? See our FAQs here.
Our Timeline
Ballot Summary Language
Once we gather 300,000 signatures across the state, this is what will appear on the 2026 ballot:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right;
allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits;
prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers;
prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and
preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions?
State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings
Ballot Language Explained
Missouri politicians are attacking the will of the people in a blatant power grab. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Respect Missouri Voters Amendment will protect our century-old constitutional freedom of the initiative, require ballot language to be clear and unbiased, and prevent partisan attacks on measures that the people have voted into law.
Together, our cross-partisan coalition’s ballot initiative will:
Require ballot summaries to be clear, unbiased, fair, accurate, and easy to understand.
Citizens may challenge misleading ballot summaries by asking courts to revise them to be clear, unbiased, fair, accurate, and easy to understand. If the ballot summary changes, citizens’ prior signatures remain valid.
Protect our constitutional freedom of the citizen initiative and referendum process.
Prohibits any legislative changes making it more difficult to gather signatures or pass initiatives at the ballot box.
Prohibit the legislature from overturning or changing initiatives passed by voters unless an 80% bipartisan supermajority sends changes to voters to approve.
Any change must be approved by voters before it can take effect.
Protects initiatives passed after January 1, 2010 that are still in law or the Constitution when this amendment goes into effect, as well as initiatives in the future. Protects citizen referendum petition vetoes after January 1, 2010 and in the future.
Does not protect measures placed on the ballot by the legislature, which often have deceptive language.
Learn more about our proposed amendment by watching our November Policy Webinar:
Will you sign to put this on the ballot to stop politicians from:
overturning what the people voted on
dismantling our 100 year citizen led initiative process, and
trying to deceive voters with tricky ballot language?