Washington, DC – Today, voters from across the ideological spectrum will decide on two fundamental questions: whether to protect direct democracy from minority rule and whether to maintain a merit-based system of appointing state Supreme Court justices or replace it with partisan elections.
In Missouri, voters will decide on Amendment 4, which asks whether to maintain the longstanding process for citizens to amend the state constitution, or install a new system that would make citizen-initiated change all but impossible. If passed, the amendment would require that all subsequent citizen-initiated constitutional amendments – including those on November’s ballot – win not only a statewide majority, but a majority in each of Missouri’s congressional districts. If it passes, it would end direct democracy in Missouri as we know it.
In Kansas, voters will decide on an amendment that asks whether to maintain their longstanding system of nominating and appointing Supreme Court justices, or install a new system of partisan elections to select future justices. For opponents of controversial Amendment 1, it’s the difference between maintaining a fair and impartial judiciary that’s stood the test of time and creating a judicial wild west where billionaires can buy seats on the state’s highest court.
“Today, voters are deciding fundamental questions of democracy and fairness,” began Kelly Hall, Executive Director of the Fairness Project, the nation’s leading backer of progressive ballot measures. “In Kansas, voters will have the opportunity to stand up for fair and impartial courts and reject pay-to-play politics by voting down Amendment 1. In Missouri, voters can send a clear message by rejecting Amendment 4: democracy belongs first and foremost to the people, not to special interests looking to control state lawmaking.”
The Fairness Project is backing Protect Majority Rule, the Missouri coalition opposing Amendment 4. If passed, Amendment 4 would create minority rule for citizen-initiated amendments. Instead of requiring a simple statewide majority for a citizen-initiated amendment to be ratified, Amendment 4 would require future amendments to be passed by majorities in each congressional district in addition to achieving a statewide majority. In effect, it would allow just 5% of voters to block any proposed amendment upending the principle of one person, one vote and the people’s ability to decide on the issues that matter most to them.
“Never before have we seen politicians be so brazen in their efforts to attack direct democracy,” declared Hall. “Missouri’s Amendment 4 stands out as the most overtly undemocratic effort to silence voters’ voices,” she continued. By raising the win threshold to unattainable heights and giving a small subset of voters veto power, political insiders are attempting to steal power from the people and hoard it for themselves.”
In Kansas, the Fairness Project is backing Kansans United for Impartial Courts, a coalition dedicated to defeating Amendment 1. According to the coalition, Amendment 1 would allow billionaires to use judicial elections to install justices who would do the bidding of wealthy donors and their business interests. The same groups contend this would be disastrous for workers’ rights, reproductive justice, public schools and education funding, and more.
“Throughout this campaign, billionaires and their agents have done their best to pretend that Amendment 1 is about democratizing the Kansas Supreme Court, ” stated Hall. “They pretend that this is about bringing free and fair elections to the state’s judiciary. But we’re confident that voters have seen through this thinly veiled attempt to open the Court to billionaires looking to use elections to buy seats on the state’s highest court.”
Stakes are high in both Missouri and Kansas, but so too are the spirits of the coalitions within the respective states and their national partners. Despite the August election date, voters have displayed enthusiasm ahead of polls opening this morning.
“We’re hopeful today,” concluded Hall. “Missouri voters have a great opportunity to tell special interests that the right to amend the constitution is not something they’ll readily throw away. Meanwhile in Kansas, voters know their tradition of impartial, nonpartisan courts has served them well, regardless of political ideology or affiliation. They have every reason to defend their Supreme Court against billionaires looking to buy their way onto the bench.”
The Fairness Project is backing multiple campaigns in states across the country to defend and strengthen democratic institutions at the state level. This includes defending nonpartisan courts in Kansas and Montana, as well as additional campaigns working to bolster direct democracy and the ballot measure process. In Missouri, the group is backing three additional campaigns whose measures are set to appear on the general election ballot on November 3 after today’s vote on Amendment 4, including measures to overturn the newly passed, GOP-drawn congressional map, defeat a legislatively-referred abortion ban, and strengthen the ballot measure process by defending it against interference by state legislators.