What is a Citizen Initiative?
Citizen initiative, ballot measure, initiative petition - these all mean the same thing.
When legislators fail to do their jobs, the citizen initiative 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.
The Policy
The Respect Missouri Voters Amendment will protect the citizen ballot initiative process forever:
Protect past initiatives: Prohibit the legislature from proposing or passing any changes to voter-approved initiatives unless by an 80% bipartisan supermajority vote in both chambers.
Protect our constitutional freedom: Prohibit the legislature from putting any constitutional amendment on the ballot that would make the initiative process more difficult.
Unbiased ballot language: Require clear, fair, accurate ballot language so voters understand what they’re voting on.
Note: this does NOT restrict what citizen-led initiatives can do. It only prohibits the legislature from attacking citizen-led initiatives.
