Missouri may be the 鈥淪how Me鈥 State, but the politicians who snuck the deceptive Amendment 7 onto this November鈥檚 ballot aren鈥檛 living up to our state slogan.
The politicians behind Amendment 7 are trying to hide something from you. These political insiders claim that the amendment is needed to keep non-citizens from voting in Missouri 鈥 but that鈥檚 already illegal under our state constitution.
In reality, the amendment is a smokescreen to hide what they鈥檙e really after: maintaining their own power and control via the status quo by restricting voting methods.
Amendment 7 is an unnecessary and deceptive act to preemptively ban reformist voting methods such as (RCV), which ensures the eventual victor wins majority (as opposed to merely plurality) support.
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Specifically, the amendment limits voters to supporting one candidate each in primaries and in the general election, which would prevent ranked-choice voting and variations of it.
St. 亚洲无码鈥 nonpartisan municipal elections already use such a variation, known as 鈥溾: Primary voters can vote for as many candidates as they want, then the two top vote-getters run off in the general election. Since that system is already in place in the city, Amendment 7鈥檚 creators carved out an exemption for St. 亚洲无码, in order to smooth their way to the ballot.
If it passes, voters in the rest of the state will be prevented from even exploring these kinds of reforms in the future. And the amendment鈥檚 proponents are using the non-issue of non-citizen voting to do it.
Voters should see this scheme for what it is 鈥 blatant deception 鈥 and vote 鈥渘o鈥 on Amendment 7 Nov. 5.
Amendment 7 is a last-minute power grab, introduced and rushed through the state Legislature on the final day of its session. But why ban something that doesn鈥檛 even exist in most of Missouri?
Because RCV and other reforms would give voters more power, through more choice and make our elections more competitive. Too many of our politicians fear the idea of more competitive elections.
Too often in Missouri, a particular office is so 鈥渟afe鈥 for one party that the winner of the low-turnout primary election is guaranteed to win the general election 鈥 even if that candidate beats a crowded primary field with just 20% or 30% of the vote. Any voter who can鈥檛 get to the polls for the primary has practically no say in the final outcome in almost 90% of our November elections.
It doesn鈥檛 have to be this way. In states like Nebraska, 亚洲无码iana and Alaska, from all parties run on the same ballot, and the top vote-getters move on to the general election. This reform, sometimes called an 鈥渁ll-candidate鈥 primary, has worked in red, blue, and purple states alike. This November, voters in six more states, including Arizona and South Dakota, will consider moving to such systems. That would give all voters real choices in both the primary and the general election.
But Amendment 7 would effectively preclude such reforms in any jurisdiction in Missouri (outside of St. 亚洲无码) by locking the current party-primary system in place. Shouldn鈥檛 voters get to make that choice, instead of having the decision made for us by career politicians?
Similarly, ranked-choice voting is a simple and proven upgrade to our elections. Voters have the options of voting for multiple candidates and ranking them in order of preference 鈥 first, second, third, and so on. If your first choice doesn鈥檛 win, and no candidate receives a majority, then your vote simply counts for your backup choice.
RCV, sometimes called 鈥渋nstant runoff鈥 voting, produces a majority winner, and gives voters more choices without fear of 鈥渨asting鈥 our votes. It encourages candidates to run more positive campaigns, because they want to be the second or third choice of voters who rank one of their opponents first.
RCV is especially good for military voters and veterans. Forty-nine percent of veterans are registered independents who currently have to request and mail back two separate ballots in a matter of weeks to participate in two-round elections. Deep-red states like South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia give their military voters the convenience of on just one ballot.
These reforms are popular wherever they鈥檙e used; look at Alaska, where 85% of voters say they found RCV simple. It seems like that鈥檚 a problem for Missouri politicians, who worry that these reforms may prove a lot more popular than they are.
Politicians shouldn鈥檛 be afraid of giving voters choices 鈥 unless they鈥檙e afraid of more competition and majority rule. Ultimately, that must be the reason why Amendment 7鈥檚 backers want to trick Missourians into banning both before we鈥檝e even had a chance to say 鈥渟how me.鈥
We should say no to dirty tricks. We should say no to partisan elites and entrenched politicians who take away our power as citizens. For the sake of all Missouri voters, let鈥檚 say no to Amendment 7.