Missourinet: Bipartisan Coalition Launches Initiative to Ban Lawmakers from “Attacking the Will of the People”

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.”

“It is not conservative from my standpoint to destroy the people’s ability to check on runaway government,” said Johnson. “The truth is, it doesn’t matter…you give a party a majority in the legislature for a period of years, they’re going to want it all. They want to have all the rulemaking responsibilities, and they don’t want to share it with citizens at large.”

The Respect Voters Coalition will be holding town halls across the state for voters to help craft a constitutional amendment in hopes of appearing on the November 2026 ballot.

Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. was among the group contending that some lawmakers are “manipulating” ballot language to “trick and mislead” voters.

“We need to have a ban to prevent further regression in Missouri away from the voice of the people,” Chapel said. “The signs that you see behind us, the people that are coming together today and throughout the state will have similar messages. It is important that we make sure that these politicians actually provide accurate language so that we can stop the lies. So, we can stop deceiving the people and ensure that their voices are heard.”

What would the proposed constitutional amendment look like? Show Me Integrity CEO Benjamin Singer told Missourinet that the amendment prohibits lawmakers from “manipulating” ballot language to “trick and mislead voters.”

“When we pass something, the legislature will just come in and repeal it,” said Singer. “They will try to stop it from going into effect, or they’ll place a measure with tricky language on the ballot to try to trick voters into undoing it, which they have successfully done before, or put ballot candy on it that has nothing to do with the goal of what they are actually trying to accomplish, which they also did just this past November.”

Singer pointed to the voter-approved Amendment 7, which bans voters from ranking candidates in order of preference – one, two, three, etc. The constitutional amendment also clarified that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Missouri elections – something that was already under federal and state law.

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You can read the article on Missourinet’s website here.