What is an Initiative Petition?
Citizen initiative, ballot measure, initiative petition - these all mean the same thing.
When legislators fail to do their jobs, the initiative petition is the constitutional right we the people use to make them.
It's largely 3 big steps
1) Write an amendment or law
2) Gather enough signatures from voters to qualify for the ballot
3) Vote YES to pass the amendment or law
In our case, it will be a state constitutional amendment and it will be on the ballot in 2026.
To learn more about the details of the issue and what we’re doing about it, read on.
Problem & Solution
The Corruption
We, the people, have to gather about 300,000 signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Meanwhile, it takes only 100 politicians to do the same. Yet, those same Missouri politicians are trying to take away your power.
When it comes to votes by citizens on ballot measures, including anti-corruption initiatives, Missouri politicians have weaponized ballot language and attacked the will of the people. Overturning. Tricking. Delaying. Blocking. Taking away Missourians’ power.
The Choice
We can let politicians decide the future of Missouri. Or we can recruit 2,500 volunteers to gather signatures for 2 hours per week for 12 weeks to place this on the November 2026 ballot.
Our Vision
We will mobilize the overwhelming majority of Missourians who want to keep this power in our own hands. We will protect, strengthen, and use the citizen initiative process to ensure a government of, by, and for the people—not for the politicians.
Our Plan
We are using the Citizen Initiative Process to pass a constitutional amendment to protect Citizen Initiatives in Missouri.
It's vital that our proposed amendment represents the voices of everyday people, not politicians. Our organization held dozens of town halls across the state where 1,000 Missourians gathered to make their voices heard. We're using their input to craft our policy and write our amendment.
How We’ll Win
Respect MO Voters is about organizing people towards a common goal. We build relationships and rely on each other. Together, we will BAN Missouri politicians from attacking the will of the people.
This may sound bold, but it has been done before.
No matter what the politicians throw at us, if we have thousands of active volunteers, we can pass or defeat anything at the polls.
Policy
2026 Citizen Initiative Overview
Missouri politicians are attacking the will of the people in a blatant power grab. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Respect Missouri Voters Amendment will protect our century-old constitutional freedom of the initiative, require ballot language to be clear and unbiased, and prevent partisan attacks on measures that the people have voted into law.
Together, our cross-partisan coalition’s ballot initiative will:
Require ballot summaries to be clear, unbiased, fair, accurate, and easy to understand.
Citizens may challenge misleading ballot summaries by asking courts to revise them to be clear, unbiased, fair, accurate, and easy to understand. If the ballot summary changes, citizens’ prior signatures remain valid.
Protect our constitutional freedom of the citizen initiative and referendum process.
Prohibits any legislative changes making it more difficult to gather signatures or pass initiatives at the ballot box.
Prohibit the legislature from overturning or changing initiatives passed by voters unless an 80% bipartisan supermajority sends changes to voters to approve.
Any change must be approved by voters before it can take effect.
Protects initiatives passed after January 1, 2010 that are still in law or the Constitution when this amendment goes into effect, as well as initiatives in the future. Protects citizen referendum petition vetoes after January 1, 2010 and in the future.
Does not protect measures placed on the ballot by the legislature, which often have deceptive language.
Ballot Summary from the Secretary of State
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right;
allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits;
prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers;
prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and
preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions?
State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings
See our 1-Pager Explainer Document for details.
