Amendment 1 is officially on the November 6 ballot, giving Missouri voters a chance to clean up state politics. Opponents – whose spokespeople are mostly powerful lobbyists – claim its five reforms will confuse voters. What voters should not be confused about is that Amendment 1 ends gerrymandering.
The League of Women Voters has studied this legislative reform initiative and knows it would prohibit racial and partisan gerrymandering in Missouri. About 90 percent of races under the current maps have not been competitive, leaving both Republicans and Democrats able to get re-elected while ignoring their constituents.
Amendment 1 ensures neither party gets an unfair advantage when state legislative maps are drawn after each census and protects minority communities from vote dilution. An independent demographer would draw district maps that would then be reviewed by a citizen commission that must hold public hearings.
Currently, the process is not transparent. Lobbyists and politicians draw maps behind closed doors to protect incumbents and their parties. That undermines our representative democracy, giving politicians the power to choose voters, instead of giving voters the power to choose their politicians.
A key goal of Amendment 1 is to have fair maps and transparency in the redistricting process, in addition to decreasing the influence of lobbyists and big money in the legislature. The League of Women Voters supports Amendment 1 to clean up Missouri politics. Learn more at lwvmissouri.org.
Louise Wilkerson, secretary
League of Women Voters of Missouri
Florissant
