Our democracy is worth fighting for. Vote no on Missouri Amendment 3

In 2018, Missourians from all backgrounds and corners of our state and came together to pass the Clean Missouri initiative to bring fair and competitive electoral district maps to our state. This compelling win — by a margin of almost 2 to 1 — shows that Missouri wants fair maps and elections, not the old way of our state legislative maps being drawn in backrooms by politicians and lobbyists to benefit only themselves. Voters approved it because it was a commonsense proposal that brings more integrity to our political process.

Now in 2020, these politicians and lobbyists are in a hurry to protect their power. They pushed through legislation to overturn the will of the people and do away with Clean Missouri — in the middle of a pandemic. They wrote Amendment 3 and put it on the November ballot to gut many of the reforms voters approved in 2018.

In June of this year, Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action held a public hearing on the dangers of Amendment 3. We heard testimony from experts throughout the state and country about the harm Amendment 3 would bring to Missouri communities. After such compelling testimony, we had no choice but to see this measure for what it truly is: a slap in the face to voters and a racist move to insulate political incumbents. This measure goes so far that it would strip our right to challenge lawmakers’ rigged maps in court. Amendment 3 is a radical threat to manipulate and undermine our democracy.

Amendment 3 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The politicians who wrote Amendment 3 claim it would eliminate lobbyist gifts and lower campaign contribution limits. What they do not say is that lobbyist gifts are already capped at $5, and this amendment would only lower campaign contributions from $2,500 to $2,400. We should not be deceived by politicians’ attempt to trick us.

The real purpose of Amendment 3 is to radically change the way Missouri draws its legislative districts. If passed, this measure would throw out any semblance of fairness or competitiveness that Missouri voters overwhelmingly want. It would allow politicians to draw gerrymandered districts where they essentially get to choose their own voters. Amendment 3 would decrease the accountability and transparency we so desperately need — and deserve — from our elected officials.

The most insidious part Amendment 3, hidden in the fine print, is a drastic change to whom will be counted when drawing the districts that represent our communities. Currently, in Missouri and every other state in our union, legislative districts are drawn and allocated based on the total population of the state. Every man, woman and child who lives in Missouri is a part of the population, even if they are unable to vote. Amendment 3 deliberately changes this criteria so that only eligible voters are counted. This would erase more than 1.5 million Missourians — most of them children — from having any representation in our state legislature.

While all of our communities will see a decrease in political representation as a result of this devious scheme, communities of color would lose the most. If passed, Amendment 3 would make Missouri the only state in the entire country to use such a damaging standard.

We believe our democracy is worth fighting for. We urge all voters to reject this attempt at voter suppression on Nov. 3. Vote no on Amendment 3.

Patricia Jones-Macklin is vice president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute’s Greater Kansas City Chapter and served on Missouri’s 2010 redistricting committee. She coauthored this with Mike Lewis, deacon of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and Donna Simon, pastor at St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City. They are all members of the Workers’ Rights Board of the 501(c)(4) nonprofit Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Our democracy is worth fighting for. Vote no on Missouri Amendment 3."