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Missouri Rights During Declared Local or State Emergencies Initiative (2022)

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Missouri Rights During Declared Local or State Emergencies Initiative
Flag of Missouri.png
Election date
November 8, 2022
Topic
Constitutional rights
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment
Origin
Citizens

The Missouri Rights During Declared Local or State Emergencies Initiative was not on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

The initiative would have added a section to the Missouri Constitution to prohibit any political subdivision from declaring any non-governmental entities essential and others non-essential; using electronic data to track citizens; keeping individuals or churches from worship; denying visitors to senior care or other healthcare facilities; contracting with a business that requires employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19; and punishing individuals for spreading COVID-19.[1][2]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was follows:[2]

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit state, county and local governments from:
  • declaring any non-governmental entities essential and others non-essential;
  • using data from electronic devices to track the movement of citizens, including license plate readers;
  • interfering with the right of individuals or churches to worship;
  • denying residents in a senior care or healthcare facility to visit friends and family even during a quarantine period;
  • contracting with businesses that require employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19; and
  • punishing individuals for spreading COVID-19 unless they are a healthcare employee or government official?

State governmental entities expect an unknown fiscal impact with a potential lost funding of at least $70 million annually. Local governmental entities expect an unknown negative fiscal impact that could be significant.[3]

Full text

  • The full text of the measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

The state process

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:

  • Signatures: The smallest possible requirement was 171,592 valid signatures. The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures were collected.
  • Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 8, 2022.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

Details about this initiative

  • On July 2, 2021, Mitchell Hubbard filed the initiative.[2]
  • On August 20, 2021, the secretary of state cleared the initiative for signature gathering.[2]
  • This initiative did not meet the signature requirements by the May 8, 2022 deadline.[4]

See also

External links

Footnotes