Better Elections proposal may fall short of signatures to appear on Nov. ballot

A proposed constitutional amendment to change processes for state elections may not appear on the November ballot.

A Thursday statement from Better Elections Missouri spokesman Scott Charton indicated the group may not have collected enough signatures to place the proposal before voters.

"There may not be sufficient signatures under Missouri law to give voters a chance to say yes to the Better Elections Amendment. The final counts from counties are still coming in, and we're watching them closely," the statement said. "More than 300,000 Missourians from every county -- Republicans, Democrats and Independents -- signed Better Elections petitions because they know our politics are broken right now. We are grateful for their strong support for fixing a broken system."

The proposal would apply, beginning in the 2024 election cycle, to campaigns for U.S. Senate, Congress, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor, state Senate and state House -- not local races or U.S. president -- and includes two significant changes to election processes.

First, it would combine all primary candidates into one pool. The candidates could still choose to run under a political party banner, but they would compete against all candidates -- not just Republicans in one primary, for example. The top four vote-getters would advance to the general election.

Second, the general election would involve ranked choice voting, in which voters would have the opportunity to rank their preferred candidates 1 through 4. In this system, once all votes have been tabulated, if a candidate receives a majority of the ballots cast -- 50% plus one vote -- that candidate wins. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate receiving the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who ranked that candidate first have their vote instantly go to their second choice. This process continues until a candidate has a majority. (This process occurs through voting machine software, not another round of voting.)

Charton said such a process would produce better candidates.

"We remain committed to our core mission: giving voters more choices in elections, empowering voters to hold politicians accountable when they lose their way and ensuring integrity in elections," he said. "... Missourians still want and deserve better elections -- the positive changes we all deserve are only delayed, not denied."

Other components of the measure would strengthen election security, according to the Better Elections website, by requiring that officials test and certify voting machines before voting begins, a paper trail of individual votes and representatives of all political parties be able to be present whenever paper ballots are counted or put in storage.

To read the full petition, visit www.BetterElectionsMO.org.