On Thursday, February 27, the new, cross-partisan, Respect Voters Coalition will hold a town hall to gather citizen input as part of a campaign to defend Missouri’s ballot initiative process and pre-empt any legislation that undermines the century-old Constitutional freedom.

A coalition of Missourians is trekking across the state to garner support for defending the initiative petition process.

The Respect Voters Coalition is hosting around 25 town halls statewide to educate voters about ballot initiatives and recruit volunteers for its campaign.

Callaway County residents will have the chance to weigh in on a proposed ballot initiative tonight. The Respect Voters Coalition will host a town hall at 5pm.

We expect our legislatures to vote on the mundane policies that make our lives better. When our citizens take the time to initiate petitions, draw up the wording, get the required signatures, and actually get something on the ballot our representatives should acknowledge the vote of the people. 

Initiative petition allows any Missourian to put a question on the statewide ballot, if they get enough signatures. Most recently, it’s how Missourians legalized marijuana and brought back abortion.

Lawmakers considered two bills Tuesday morning that would reform the process. They include everything from new deadlines to the color of ink petition signers have to use.

Nicolosi joined the Respect Voters Coalition, a group opposing changes to Missouri’s initiative petition process.

“For those of us who live and work in rural Missouri, I think that we should have as much power as the lobbyists who spend their days up here at the capitol talking to politicians day in and day out,” Nicolosi said.

Community members shared their suggestions for a ballot initiative aimed at protecting Missouri's initiative petition process itself Monday evening at the Columbia Public Library.

The push is being led by the Respect Voters Coalition, a group with ties to Show Me Integrity, a cross-partisan good government advocacy group.

The bipartisan group “Respect Voters Coalition” has launched a new statewide ballot initiative that aims to ban politicians from “attacking the initiative petition process.”

Former Sen. Bob Johnson, R-Lee’s Summit, is throwing his support behind the effort. He said politicians are continuing to “attack the will of the people.”

A campaign launching across the state aims to draft a constitutional amendment that would protect the ballot initiative process.

Respect Voters Coalition said the campaign comes as a result of deceptive language and an attempt to pass bills that would disrupt the ballot initiative process, which is how citizens can propose statutes or constitutional amendments. 

The coalition is fielding input from Missouri residents in a series of town halls to draft the amendment.

Respect MO Voters is an initiative by the group Show Me Integrity to protect ballot measures in Missouri. 

Their goals, as stated on their website, are to prevent politicians from:

1. "Interfering with initiatives that voters have already passed.

2. Attacking citizens' ability to use the initiative process.

3. Manipulating tricky language on ballots to mislead voters."

A group calling itself the Respect Voters Coalition gathered Monday outside the Phelps County Courthouse to announce a new statewide initiative petition campaign. Their stated purpose is gathering enough signatures to qualify a proposed constitutional amendment to safeguard Missouri’s initiative petition process as well as prevent use of deceptive ballot language.

The Respect Voters Coalition gathered Monday at the Capitol to launch a ballot initiative and announce 24 town halls it will organize throughout the state through March.

A bipartisan group called the Respect Voters Coalition is launching a campaign to prevent Missouri lawmakers from changing the way state ballot measures are approved.

‘Anything that allows politicians to interfere with the will of the people is something that we oppose vociferously,’ said Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity.

“These politicians who’ve taken an oath to protect the Missouri Constitution need to be reminded of that, and so that’s why groups and citizens across the state, in unbelievable momentum I’ve never seen before, are banding together to say enough is enough, and we are going to stop politicians from attacking the will of the people once and for all,” Singer said.

The Missouri House and Senate will convene on January 8 to begin the 103rd General Assembly’s first regular session.

Missouri Republican lawmakers have once again put forth efforts to curtail the process for citizen-led ballot initiatives, following successful campaigns to enshrine abortion rights, raise the state’s minimum wage, and create a legal sports wagering market.

In response, a newly formed political group called the “Respect Voters Coalition” is sponsoring a 2026 initiative to prevent state officials from meddling in the process altogether.

Ben Singer, who leads Show Me Integrity, co-founded RVC as a measure to push back against efforts to roll back the IP process which, he noted, have been pushed by both parties when they’ve been in the majority.

‘When Democrats were trying to attack the citizens initiative process because they didn’t like the Conservatives also used the citizens initiative process, Governor Ashcroft vetoed the Democrats’ attack on the ballot initiative process,’ Singer said.