JEFFERSON CITY — A proposed constitutional amendment asking Missouri voters to adopt a new way of conducting elections may not have enough valid signatures to get on the November ballot.
Although the counting and verifying of valid signatures is still underway, a spokesman for the Better Elections effort suggested Thursday there may be a shortfall.
“There may not be sufficient signatures under Missouri law to give voters a chance to say yes to the Better Elections Amendment. The final counts from counties are still coming in, and we’re watching them closely,†said Scott Charton.
Under state law, individuals or groups seeking to put a question to voters on the ballots must collect a total of more than 170,000 signatures from six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.
An estimated 300,000 signatures were turned in to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office in May and are in the process of being verified by county clerks, who have until July 26 to complete the task.
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Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, for example, said his staff is conducting their checks with an eye on finishing by earlier July. He said it is too early to speculate on the outcome.
Charton said the group remains committed to the core mission of giving voters more choices in elections, empowering voters to hold politicians accountable when they lose their way, and ensuring integrity in elections.
“More than 300,000 Missourians from every county — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — signed Better Elections petitions because they know our politics are broken right now. We are grateful for their strong support for fixing a broken system,†Charton said.
The proposed constitutional amendment would abolish partisan primary elections and allow voters to rank their top four choices, regardless of party.
The top four vote-getters would advance to a general election, and voters would again rank their top four choices or just vote for their top pick.
“One need only look at the recent dysfunction and chaos of the Missouri Legislature for evidence that things are off track. Missourians still want and deserve better elections — the positive changes we all deserve are only delayed, not denied,†Charton added.
Critics say it could sow confusion and depress voting.
Better Elections’ political action committee has received most of its funding through the foundation of John and Laura Arnold, a wealthy Texas couple who also have backed similar voting changes in other states.
Better Elections has raised $2.4 million during the election cycle, according to reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The latest MEC report notes that at least $1.3 million was paid to for the signature collection effort. The Washington, D.C.-based firm also is being paid to collect signatures for , which is pushing a constitutional amendment to legalize the sale of marijuana for adult, recreational use.
As a comparison, the signatures collected for the marijuana effort amount to 731 boxes of paper, compared to 192 for Better Elections.
Groups often collect an amount in excess of the required amount in order to account for some signatures being rejected.
In 2021, identified 261 jurisdictions in the U.S. — ranging from the state of California to a Texas school district — that have adopted some voting method other than the standard single-winner, plurality system most American voters know.
Posted at 12:18 p.m. Thursday, June 16.