Missouri Proportional Representation Initiative (2020)

Missouri Proportional Representation Initiative

Election date
November 3, 2020
Topic
Elections and campaigns
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment| Origin
Citizens

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The Missouri Proportional Representation Initiative was not on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.

The ballot measure would have restructured the Missouri State Legislature to use an electoral system of proportional representation. The ballot measure would have reduced the size of the state House from 163 to 80 members, with eight 10-member districts. Another version of the initiative would have reduced the House from 163 to 160 members, with eight 20-member districts.[1]

Members of the state Senate would have been elected statewide. Voters would have elected senators and representatives by voting for a political party's ordered list of candidates. Primary elections would have determined the ordering of the lists. The proportion of votes that a party's list receives would have determined the number of candidates elected from that list.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Text of measure
* 1.1 Ballot title
* 1.2 Full text
* 2 Path to the ballot
* 2.1 Process in Missouri
* 2.2 Stages of this initiative
* 3 See also
* 4 Footnotes

## Text of measure[edit]

### Ballot title[edit]

The ballot title for Initiative 2020-046 would have been as follows:[1]

“  |

Do you want to amend Missouri's Constitution regarding state legislators as follows:

* reduce the number of state representatives from 163 to 80 (10 representing each of the eight congressional districts);
* instead of a district, state senators will represent the entire state;
* primary elections result in an ordered list of candidates for each office;
* at the general election, a voter casts a vote for one political party's ordered list of candidates;
* the proportion of votes received per political party determines the candidates elected from each party's list, in the order on the list; and
* fill vacancies with the highest-ranking unelected candidate?

State government legislative operating costs are estimated to decrease by approximately $7 million annually. State and local governments could incur unknown additional election-related costs that could be significant.[2]

| ”

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### Full text[edit]

The full text of the measure is available for Initiative 2020-046, Initiative 2020-102, and Initiative 2020-140.

## Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

### Process in Missouri[edit]

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:

* Signatures: The smallest possible requirement was 160,199 valid signatures. The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures were collected.
* Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 3, 2020.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

### Stages of this initiative[edit]

Winston Apple filed the ballot initiative on February 22, 2019. On April 8, 2019, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) approved the initiative for signature gathering. Apple filed a second version on July 25, 2019, which was approved for signature gathering on September 3, 2019. A third version was filed on November 13, 2019, which was approved for signature gathering on December 31, 2019. Petitioners did not submit signatures by the May 3 deadline.[1]

## See also[edit]

2020 measures

* 2020 ballot measures
* Elections and campaigns on the ballot
* State legislatures measures on the ballot

Missouri

* Missouri ballot measures
* Missouri ballot measure laws

News and analysis

* Ballot measure lawsuits
* Ballot measure readability
* Ballot measure polls

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## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Missouri Secretary of State, "2020 Initiative Petitions Approved for Circulation in Missouri," accessed April 10, 2019
2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

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Jefferson City (capital)

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