Missouri Citizens' Commission on Ballot Questions – Abridged Version
The following text excerpts the key provisions of a proposed amendment to safeguard the citizens’ right to initiative in Missouri by establishing the Missouri Citizens’ Commission on Ballot Questions. The measure was prepared by Show Me Integrity and Election Reformers Network. The full text of the measure is available here.
Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended by adopting a new Section 54 to Article III.
Section 54.
1. …[T]he legislature shall be prohibited from weakening citizens’ direct lawmaking power. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “weakening citizens’ direct lawmaking power” … shall be construed broadly… Examples of such changes include, but are not limited to, raising signature thresholds, shortening the time allowed for signature collection, narrowing allowable subject matter, imposing additional qualifications or procedural requirements on petitioners, or raising the vote percentage required to approve a measure at the ballot….
2. …[T]the legislature shall be prohibited from attempting to change any citizen-initiated law or citizen-initiated amendment, except in the event that eighty percent of the House and Senate approve the change.…
6. …[T]here is established an independent citizens’ commission responsible for preparing every ballot summary and ensuring every ballot summary is clear, unbiased, fair, and accurate, as described below.
(2) [Active politicians and their immediate family are prohibited from serving on the commission, including judges, elected officials, appointed officials, political party officials, and lobbyists.]
(3) The commission shall consist of thirteen members selected through the following process:
(a) [The chief election official mails applications to … registered voters, chosen at random from voter rolls … until at least 100 complete applications have been received from voters identifying with each of the two major parties and 120 … from voters identifying with minor parties or no party.]
(b) [The chief justice identifies 80 candidates from each list of major party applicants and 100 candidates from the list of minor and no party applicants, using procedures similar to those employed to ensure juries represent the full population of the state.]
(c) [The senate majority leader, senate minority leader, house speaker, and house minority leader may each strike up to 10 candidates from the lists.]
(d) [The chief election officer shall select the first 7 members of the commission by randomly choosing 2 names from each list of major party candidates and 3 from the list of minor party/no-party candidates.]
(e) [The selected commissioners shall appoint the remaining commissioners—2 more from each list of candidates—with the goal of reflecting the full population of the state.]
(9) [For each ballot measure that comes before the commission, the most senior staff member of the state legislature’s drafting body shall provide a proposed summary.]
(11) [Commissioners may submit their own proposed summary for any ballot measure.]
(14) [Commissioners shall assign a score from 0 to 100 to each proposal, with the same score being permitted for multiple proposals. The proposal with the highest total score shall be adopted as the official ballot summary.]