Last week, the Missouri Legislature moved two bills forward that, if passed, would almost guarantee progressive ballot measures never become law — even if they win a majority vote. The GOP’s vision for the future is a dark one, in which liberal voters are gerrymandered into political irrelevance federally, while being effectively denied the ability to propose ballot initiatives or even amend their state constitutions.
The GOP’s vision for the future is a dark one, in which liberal voters are gerrymandered into political irrelevance.
One proposed revision would increase the requirement for passing a constitutional amendment from the current simple majority to 57%. Another, from the Missouri House, would jack the required support all the way up to 60%. That’s in a state in which only about 40% identify as Republicans, and where most progressive ballot measures historically win about 50-55% of the popular vote. In practice, that means almost every ballot measure put to the people will fail. It’s a sweepingly anti-democratic idea. And that’s just how the GOP wants it.
The proposal’s supporters counter that amendments can still pass statewide with a simple majority, provided they also win approval in five of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. There’s just one problem: Republicans recently redrew the state’s congressional maps, and they ensured five of their shamelessly gerrymandered districts were decidedly more Republican-leaning than the rest of the state.
Republicans could have adjusted their extreme policies to better align with voters; instead, they decided it was easier to make voters matter less. In an ironic twist, each of these attacks on direct democracy must be voted on by the very people whose voices Republicans hope to silence. Demoralizing red state Democrats will be a critical part of the GOP playbook. After all, demoralized people don’t vote.
Missourians — and the rest of us — must serve as our own last line of…
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