Amendment 3: Flawed, Deceptive, and Discriminatory

As the Missouri Community Action Network Board of Directors, we strongly oppose Amendment 3. We believe the measure is flawed, deceptive, and discriminatory and encourage a “No” vote on the November ballot for the following reasons:  

– In 2018, Missouri voters approved Clean Missouri, an amendment aimed at both limiting the influence of lobbyists gifts in the legislative process and eliminating the partisanship that has infected the redistricting process for decades. The people spoke; nearly two-thirds of voters cast their ballot in favor of the measure. Amendment 3 would gut the protections Clean Missouri put in place; 

– Amendment 3 is an attempt to circumvent the will of the people. Politicians are elected to represent their constituents, not to advance their own interests and ignore their communities who voted them into power; 

– Amendment 3 is intended to give political insiders the ability to tip the scales to one party or another through gerrymandering. This practice is an affront to the democratic principles upon which redistricting is based; 

– We believe in fair and equal representation for all Missourians, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, age, or citizenship status. For years, this state has used population, not the number of eligible voters, to determine district boundaries. There is no justifiable reason to abandon that principle, yet a vote for Amendment 3 would do just that;  

– The Missouri Community Action Network believes discrimination has no place in our state constitution.  Amendment 3’s redistricting process is based on the concept of “one person, one vote,” which is a thinly disguised attempt to disenfranchise huge swaths of the population, particularly people in communities of color. Missouri should not add an amendment that allows politicians to disadvantage minorities and non-citizens;  

– Amendment 3 would also exclude children from the mapmaking process that determines district boundaries. The district maps are redrawn every ten years. Consider the population of high school seniors across the state who have yet to turn 18. When the maps are drawn, they won’t be included among the voters in any district, as they are not yet eligible to vote. For the first ten years of their adult life, they won’t be included in the political representation as determined by these boundaries. And they are just one sector of the 1, 370, 000 Missouri children who at risk of losing representation in the legislature;   

– We believe the redistricting process should be done in a non-partisan manner. It should include everyone, not just those who can go to the polls. Missouri would become the first state to not count every person in district maps if Amendment 3 passes.  Therefore, a “No” vote will prevent the controlling party in the Missouri Legislature, whether Democrat or Republican, to determine how a district is drawn, with the sole intent being to favor one side or the other; 

– Amendment 3 deliberately hides the true purpose of this measure with deceptive ballot language, which is why two courts have struck it down and ordered it to be rewritten. Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce called the language “misleading, unfair, and insufficient.”  

– At Missouri Community Action Network, we care about the entire community—every person, no matter their age or background. And we believe each person in our communities should count when drawing district boundaries. Everyone deserves political representation.   Amendment 3 supports the idea that some people don’t matter. It says part of your community doesn’t get political representation. 

Amendment 3 does not serve the best interests of ALL Missourians. It is a blatant attempt to ignore the wishes of the voters and to roll back the gerrymandering reforms Missourians approved just two years ago. Amendment 3 would strip minority and young communities of their right to fair representation. And the language of the ballot measure was written to hide these nefarious intentions. Missouri Community Action Network won’t stand for this deception and opposes Amendment 3.   

Vote no on Amendment 3 in-person on November 3 or by absentee or mail-in ballot to stop legislators from overriding the will of the people. 

Signed,  

Missouri Community Action Network (Missouri CAN) 

Angela Hirsch, Board President, Missouri CAN 

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