RELEASE: Missourians Urge Lawmakers to Protect Majority Rule at Voting Rights Legislative Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2024
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, claire@progressmo.org
Denise Lieberman, media@movpc.org
Missourians Urge Lawmakers to Protect Majority Rule at Voting Rights Legislative Day
JEFFERSON CITY – Hundreds of Missourians gathered in the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday, January 28 to urge lawmakers to protect majority rule and ditch efforts to alter the initiative petition process. Missourians delivered a clear message: Don’t end majority rule in Missouri.

Majority rule has been law in Missouri for more than 100 years, but now politicians want to rig the rules so that a small minority of Missourians can veto any statewide proposal.
“The principle of ‘one person, one vote’ is key to our freedom to make decisions about policies that will impact us and our families,” said Elizabeth Franklin, resident of Plattsburg. “It doesn’t matter where you live, one person’s vote should not matter more or less than any other vote. Once the voters of Missouri have spoken on a measure, the majority decision must be respected by the lawmakers in Jefferson City.”
Franklin and other concerned citizens gathered for the non-partisan Missouri Voting Rights Legislative Day, organized by the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, to urge lawmakers to reject efforts to undermine Missouri’s citizen initiative petition process. Attendees also spoke to lawmakers in support of protecting election workers from threats and harassment, and restoring voting rights to those on probation and parole.
“Like most Missourians, I work hard,” Alejandro Gallardo of Columbia told the crowd. “I put in long hours as a restaurant worker, and I bust my butt each day. Despite my dedication and hard work, I often found myself in a difficult situation. Calling in sick to care for myself – losing out on a day’s pay or risk getting my coworkers and customers sick while earning the paycheck I need to survive. Now, because of Missouri’s initiative petition process, I no longer have to make those tough decisions. I joined with hundreds of volunteers to take democracy into our own hands and collect signatures and pass a law that we needed and lawmakers in Jefferson City refused to do.”
More than two dozen bills threatening majority rule and proposing changes to the initiative petition process have already been filed. After last year’s historic 50-hour filibuster and record-low number of passed bills, Missourians are eager for lawmakers to focus on issues that matter most rather than trying to trick them into giving up their freedoms.
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