Respect or protect Missouri voters? Is there a difference?

If you ask lawmakers and petitioners throughout the state, that answer is a resounding “yes.”

Two diametrically opposed amendments to the Missouri Constitution regarding the initiative petition process could be hitting the ballot next year.

In that case, voters will have to decide which side they’re on: respecting or protecting.

Organizers of an initiative petition seeking to get a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to ban Missouri lawmakers from what they say is overturning the will of the people report that they are a third of the way there.

The petition will be available to sign at Central Bank in Eldon from 5-7-pm this Wednesday. The group has until the spring to reach its goal of 300,000 signatures.

Respect MO Voters, a campaign advocating for citizen’s rights, is spearheading initiative petition 2026-106.

The petition proposes the Respect Missouri Voters Amendment be made to the Missouri Constitution. This amendment would prevent politicians from overturning Missouri votes, and prevent deceptive practices from being used to confuse Missouri voters, according to the Respect MO Voters website.

To qualify for ballots, Respect MO Voters held a pop-up petition-signing event 5 p.m. Nov. 11 at The Rose Theatre to gather signatures on four key issues.

These issues range in topic from LGBTQ+ rights to the rights of public education, and it included the petition to overturn the recent congressional map.

Missouri politicians are attacking our freedom. They keep overturning measures that voters have passed, and attacking our power to use citizen-led initiative petitions.

But you can do something to stop this once and for all.

More than 1,000 volunteers across the state are collecting signatures to place a measure on the ballot called the Respect Missouri Voters Amendment. It would ban the legislature from overturning measures that voters have approved, requiring an 80% supermajority to send any changes to a vote of the people. It would also prevent politicians from weakening the initiative petition process and require ballot language be clear, easy to understand and not misleading. It’s a citizen initiative to save citizen initiatives.

Approximately 500 people braved soggy, and at times stormy, weather to participate in the “No Kings” protest held Oct. 18 in Hillsboro, organizer Maranda Akers said.

Thousands gathered in cities and towns all over Missouri Saturday at No Kings demonstrations to speak up against the many ways they believe the current administration — both at the federal and state level — is a threat to democracy.

And scattered among the crowds were volunteers with clipboards, collecting signatures for initiative petition campaigns hoping to make the 2026 ballot. 

“We are just out here trying to make sure that the people hold the power and not politicians,” said Drew Amidei, a staff organizer for Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action, at the Jefferson City rally. 

While Missouri lawmakers recently passed a measure to make it tougher to pass citizen-led ballot initiatives, one of those initiatives would preserve the current system as-is.

Marshall Griffin spoke with Benjamin Singer, campaign director for the Respect Missouri Voters campaign.

“If you vote for something, it’s supposed to actually matter,” Slaybaugh said. “And I really feel like we’re disenfranchising an entire generation of voters.”

The group is advocating for a measure that would prevent lawmakers from changing or weakening voter-approved petitions once they pass. Volunteers are working at festivals and community events across Missouri to gather signatures.

Under the Respect MO Voters proposal, passage of a bill changing anything in a successful initiative would require support from 80% of lawmakers in both chambers and be subject to another statewide vote.

The Republican plan to increase the majority requirement found no support at the 25 town halls the campaign has conducted, campaign director Benjamin Singer said.

“What we kept hearing from people across the political spectrum at these town halls and listening sessions was that they wanted it to be as difficult as possible for politicians to repeal or change what the people decided,” Singer said.

Missouri faces a showdown over the initiative petition process, with rival constitutional amendments likely on the November 2026 ballot. Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Ed Lewis, propose requiring constitutional amendments to win majority support in all eight congressional districts, plus added rules like public hearings and a ban on foreign funding. Critics call it a double standard since legislative amendments face no new hurdles. In response, the cross-partisan Respect MO Voters coalition is pushing its own measure to protect citizen powers and prevent lawmakers from overturning voter-approved policies, setting up a major fight over how Missourians shape state law.

Missouri Republicans are using this year's special session to change the state's initiative petition rules to effectively make it impossible for citizens to change the state's constitution. But it would have to be approved by the voters first. Our roundtable of journalists discusses the changes lawmakers could put on your ballot - and the competing initiative you may also see.

Missouri belongs to all of us. And if a nurse from the Lake of the Ozarks can show up for the first time in her life to say enough is enough, then so can we.

In St. Louis, even an ally of former Republican Missouri Governor and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Freddie Steinbach, spoke in support of the voter initiative and against the Legislature’s plan and assured those in attendance – and anyone else listening and paying attention: “This is a non-partisan meeting and movement.”

A proposal passed Tuesday by the Missouri House, and now pending in the Senate, would require citizen-initiated amendments to receive a majority vote in each of the state’s eight congressional districts to pass. Amendments placed on the ballot by the Legislature would need only a statewide majority, as is currently the case. No other state has a dual standard like that.

Critics say it would be almost impossible for initiative supporters to meet.

"In effect, it’s saying we’re going to kill the initiative process,” said Liz Kester, of Columbia, who is helping with the Respect Missouri Voters initiative.

"The only way we're going to end gerrymandering is using a citizen initiative, and the only way we're going to stop them from attacking our freedom of the citizen initiative is by passing the Respect Missouri Voters Amendment," said Benjamin Singer, co-founder and campaign director for the Respect Missouri Voters Coalition.

Launch parties were held across Missouri Wednesday night, including in Springfield and Joplin, as Respect Missouri Voters Coalition volunteers were trained how to gather signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year.

The Respect Missouri Voters amendment would require ballot language to be clear, unbiased, fair, accurate and easy to understand; prohibit politicians from overturning initiatives passed by voters unless an 80% bi-partisan supermajority sends any changes to voters to approve; and would prohibit any legislation making it more difficult to gather signatures or pass initiatives at the ballot box. 

On Wednesday, Respect Missouri Voters held launch parties across the state to kick off a campaign looking to protect the state’s response to state lawmakers repealing measures voters have passed, like paid sick leave. It also comes as lawmakers are in Jefferson City for a special session to redraw the congressional district map and change the state’s IP process.

“They seem to think that the voters don’t know what they’re doing,” said Pam Whiting, a volunteer for Respect Missouri Voters. “In fact, some of the legislators have said that. I find that very disrespectful.”

Missouri Lawmakers are working to make changes to the initiative petition process. But those opposed to any reform are fighting back. Respect MO Voters is an organization working to protect that constitutional right.

“This is an attempt to restore power to the people,” said Respect MO Voters volunteer Gene Davison.

He says the ‘Show Me State’ has laws in place to engage voters.

“Missouri, for a century, has had the right of citizens to petition the government. So that when politicians aren’t responsive to the will of the people, the people can take the cause straight to the ballot themselves,” he explained.

“The legislature a lot of times doesn’t follow the will of the people. Sometimes, they actively overturn what we vote for, and it’s really inspiring that Missouri has this direct democracy process. You can directly have citizens put their blood, sweat and tears into something they care about, put it on the ballot and see if the majority of Missourians agree with them. That’s how I think it should be,” said Floyd.

In a special session focused on redistricting, Gov. Mike Kehoe wants legislators to create a requirement for ballot measures to pass in every congressional district, rendering most future initiatives toothless.