Why Does Missouri State Rep. Mike Parson Hate Voters So Much?
Mike Parson hates voters, that is the only thing we can conclude. Why else would he try year after year to gut Missouri voters’ ballot initiative process?
In 2009, Rep. Parson submitted a bill that would have banned paying campaign workers who circulate petitions by the signature and required those workers to be Missouri residents to work on a petition drive. Of course both payment per signature bans and residency requirements have both been ruled unconstitutional. Rep. Parson even admitted last year that parts of his bill “might be unconstitutional”. His bill also called for signatures to be tossed if the person who collected them violates the law, as though the person holding a clipboard while a voter signs has anything to do with whether that voter is properly registered and should have their signature count.
This year, Parson is going a more direct route. Instead of trying to place so many restrictions on who can help voters petition their government that it becomes impossible to do so, he wants to set the bar so high to qualify for the ballot that even an army of campaign workers couldn’t do it. His House Joint Resolution 63 would effectively double the number of signatures needed for both constitutional amendments and statutory initiatives. This would take the requirements from signatures equal to 8% of voters in the last election for governor in six of nine congressional districts to 15% for a constitutional amendment, and from 5% to 10% for a statutory initiative.
The 15% requirement for a constitutional amendment would add Missouri with Arizona and Oklahoma on the list of states with the highest signature requirements. While five states - Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Utah and Nevada - require 10% to qualify a statutory initiative, only Wyoming’s requirement, at 15%, is higher. It’s worth mentioning that Wyoming voters haven’t seen a citizen initiative on the ballot in 14 years.
Rep. Parson’s attempts to restrict the process were slapped down by pro-initiative activists last year. We suspect a repeat.
Digg
Propeller
Reddit
Comments
Anyone who fights to change ballots and rally’s to reverse proposed laws that the people of Missouri have already voted on, is a snake in my book. He is our rep, he is supposed to put the our vote first. He is selfish and cares nothing about our rights a citizens to vote. He plays “GOD” with our votes and does not represent the people. Let’s see if he can make this article come true again. You would think he would have learned from his mistake, but stupid is as stupid does.
SENATOR MIKE PARSONS HAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST WITH HIS EFFORTS TO STRIKE OUT PROPOSITION BE PUPPY MILL CRUELTY PREVENTION.
HE BELONGS TO THE CATTLEMAN’S ASSOCIATION AND THEIR WEB PAGES SAY PROP. B IS ABOUT ALL ANIMALS NOT JUST DOGS
THEY TELL LIES ABOUT PROP B - THE AUTHOR AND SPONSOR IS ONE OF THE CATTLEMAN MEMBERS
SO NOT ONLY IS HE STRIKING DOWN THE VOTE OF THE PEOPLE AGAIN, HE IS DOING SO TO PROFIT HIS OWN ENTERPRISES AND WELFARE.
You’re certainly right Julie! We’re pretty sure that Parson will slime his restrictions back into the legislature this year, but many of Missouri’s legislators have started to see the light when it comes to protecting initiative rights, and the fight is sure to be a good one.
http://www.mocattle.com/legislative.htm
Check out their legislation web page and tell me that he can be impartial
Thanks for your posting. The more I read of it, the more I agreed with Mike Parson. Constitutional Amendments and Statutory Initiatives should be more than the whim of a few individuals. We need to amend(change) our constitution only to benefit the state, as a whole. 5%-8% does not represent a significant portion of our citizens. I think I can find 8% of registered voters that disagree with pretty much any topic that I can name.
5-8% is only the requirement to put something on the ballot. All initiatives must still go to the people for a vote.
Post new comment