Shelley Swoyer
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
The Legislature should not change the initiative petition process. Missouri has a rich history of citizens of both parties directly petitioning for changes to our laws and Constitution. Particularly when the Legislature is dominated by one party, some issues that impact many citizens are simply never considered. When a ballot initiative wins by 50-60 percent of the vote (Raise the Wage passed with over 60 percent), that means the issue is important to both Democrats and Republicans, who can sometimes agree.
Initiative petitions are used to make both constitutional and statutory changes. While I understand concerns about the number of issues now written into the Constitution, there is also concern that if the petition seeks a statutory change, the Legislature will simply undo the statute. Readers may remember Proposition B, the 1999 ballot issue that would have required law enforcement officers to issue concealed weapons permits. Although the public defeated the proposition, the Legislature approved similar legislation a few years later, essentially ignoring the vote of the people.
The Legislature is seeking to make the process of initiating a petition more difficult by requiring more signatures in more districts. I have worked as a volunteer on several initiative petition drives, and I assure you it is not an easy process. I have stood outside in extreme heat and cold, in sun, snow and rain. Gathering signatures is a slow process, averaging about 10 per hour.
The Legislature complains that initiative petitions are not "properly vetted," meaning they've not been filtered through their partisan lens and that people don't understand what they are signing. This underestimates the public. I find most people interested when approached with a petition. Many stop to engage in conversation. Some decline to sign at the time but take any literature on the issue to read later, making them informed voters. An example is medical marijuana, an issue I did not work on. Three proposals made it to the ballot, but voters overwhelmingly picked the same one (66 percent), meaning they were informed on all.
The Legislature is considering several bills that would make what is already a difficult process almost impossible. The number of signatures required is already a high bar. Although many petitions are filed every year with the Secretary of State, very few actually make it to the ballot. The proposed changes will endanger the future of this important tool of direct democracy.