JEFFERSON CITY — Consultants backing an effort to convince Missouri voters to adopt a new way of conducting elections aren’t saying whether they’ve collected enough signatures to put the question on the November ballot.
With two weeks to go before 170,000 valid signatures are due, a spokesman for declined to address specific questions from the Post-Dispatch about the collection effort.
“Better Elections has gathered voter signatures in every Missouri county from independents, Republicans and Democrats who are excited about having more choices, better ballot security and more integrity in elections,†Scott Charton said.
Campaign finance reports, however, show supporters are spending big on an out-of-state company to organize and execute the collection of signatures.
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Better Elections raised $1.4 million in the first three months of 2022, according to a quarterly report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The report notes that $1.6 million was spent, with $1.3 million of that going to for signatures. 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.
Better Elections ended the first quarter with $690,000 in its account.
The 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.
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.
Supporters say the change would replace the practice of voting for a preferred candidate with voting for a candidate who has a more likely chance of overcoming their least-favorite candidate.
Critics say it could sow confusion and depress voting.
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.
Meantime, the push by Democrat-leaning groups to use Missouri’s ballot initiative process to effect change in the state is a reflection of the state’s strongly Republican majorities, who control the flow of legislation in the General Assembly.
Issues that aren’t addressed in the House or the Senate often become the subject of ballot questions, including issues like the minimum wage, Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana.
The presence of large amounts of out-of-state money in Missouri’s ballot initiative process has generated a number of Republican-sponsored bills in the Legislature this year designed to make it harder to use that route when seeking to alter state laws.
A proposal sponsored by Rep. , R-Maysville, would raise the bar for passage of constitutional amendments from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority.
In addition, signatures needed to place a question on the ballot would have to come from all eight Missouri congressional districts, as opposed to the six currently required.
also institutes a process for the General Assembly to vet proposed amendments by conducting hearings and potentially recommending changes.
Eggleston’s proposal won approval in the Missouri House in March and awaits action in the Senate as the Legislature works toward a May 13 deadline.
Originally posted at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 25.Â