NEWS: Secretary of State Admits Respect MO Voters Meets Signature Requirement
Trial is set for this Tuesday, August 18 at 3pm in Cole County Court
Jefferson City, Mo. — Secretary of State Denny Hoskins admitted in a court filing this week what the Respect MO Voters coalition has been saying all along. According to Secretary Hoskins, the Respect MO Voters initiative "petition was signed by at least 8 percent of registered voters in two-thirds of Missouri’s congressional districts”—the requirement for the initiative petition to qualify for the ballot.
A trial on the Respect MO Voters lawsuit is set for this Tuesday, August 18, at 3 p.m. Respect MO Voters has asked the Court to order Hoskins to issue a certificate of sufficiency and put Amendment 6 on the ballot.
“Instead of letting Missourians vote, Hoskins is blocking the petition even as his own court filing admits that our volunteers gathered more than enough signatures," said Benjamin Singer, co-founder of Respect MO Voters. "The Secretary of State is responsible for reviewing signatures to certify a petition so the people of Missouri can be heard. Politicians cannot simply disregard our century-old constitutional freedom to petition.”
This development comes less than two weeks after Missouri voters rejected Amendment 4.
“The Amendment 4 outcome reaffirms what we already know – Missouri voters are determined to protect their constitutional right to petition and have their voices heard,” Singer said. “Missourians—not politicians—should decide the future of our state, and voters deserve the opportunity to decide Amendment 6 for themselves.”
See an excerpt from Secretary Hoskins’ filing below:
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About Respect Missouri Voters
The Respect Missouri Voters Coalition is a statewide grassroots, cross-partisan movement of more than 2000 volunteers. The coalition works to preserve the citizen initiative process and to ensure the will of the people is respected to build a more ethical, effective government that serves everyday Missourians.
Learn more and get involved at www.respectMOvoters.org.
Photos from the Respect MO Voters campaign can be found here.
