Morning Edition; Shawn Nicholson

It's morning edition on KRPS, the countdown is now at 27 days until the final day that you can vote in person on Tuesday, November 3rd. Democrats and Republicans aren't the only thing on the ballot in Missouri this election season. Amendment 3 is also. Essentially, if passed, it would overturn most of clean Missouri, also known as Amendment 1, which voters passed by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio in 2018. Proponents of Amendment 3 say it will rid the state of Jerry Mandry. On Monday morning, I spoke with the campaign director of the No-on-3 campaign, Sean Nicholson. I first asked Sean if Amendment 3 passed on the November ballot. What would it mean for Missouri residents? Yeah, Amendment 3 was crafted by politicians to let lobbyists and political operatives draw maps to protect their politicians. They want a world where as few districts as possible are competitive in November, conservative justice and combat. And I think they can trick you with this by changing lobbyists' fifth limits by $5 and changing contribution limits by $100.

But we can all see through that smoke screen to really see what's going on. Amendment 3 is 100 percent about letting lobbyists and political operatives draw maps to protect and combat politicians. To get you to vote for that, they know you will hate from the fine print of Amendment 3. And so to get you to vote for that, they are changing lobbyists' fifth limits by $5 and changing contribution limits by $100. We all know that's not actually a form set to smoke screen for what's really going on here, which is during Amendment 3. So, Amendment 3 is definitely opposed by Republican Democrats to defend it across the state.

It was put on the ballot by a small group of legislators in Jefferson City, because they don't like the nonpartisan redistricting reforms that were passed by voters in 2018. So, I've been walking the last couple years to come up with a way to undo what voters did. And what they have put forward in the form of Amendment 3 goes far beyond anything Missouri has ever seen. It's even different than anything else in the country. And it's a combination of those extreme details in Amendment 3, the decisive way that politicians are trying to care voters and the past in it, and the overwhelming bipartisan mandates that we already have for favorite district teams, all of those together are why there's a massive coalition of Republican Democrats coming together to say no on Amendment 3. So, Amendment 3 is designed to undo what voters have already done. So, Amendment 3 is about

gutting or eliminating all of the nonpartisan reforms that voters approved in 2018, and replacing those reforms with a redistricting system unlike Missouri has ever seen. They are trying to demand and reduce the process. They even want to make it a bit judgeess can't throw out in a legislative plan if they find it some constitutional. That's just crazy and politicians are trying to be above the law and we need to say no to that and to reject Amendment 3. One of the things that you will see when you go to vote on Amendment 3, there's a fiscal note that goes along with the board as well on Amendment 3. And in there, you will see that local individual government expects significant revenue loss because of how communities would lose representation and how families would lose representation because of some of the tinkering that's going on in the fine fence of Amendment 3.

So, it's not politicians are trying to trick you with the $5 education. It's not just that they're trying to let lobbyists rig the maps to protect their favorite politicians. Our communities, our families, will also lose in terms of representation in terms of dollars that. So, for all of those reasons, it's a no-brainer to vote no on Amendment 3. Thanks so much for the call. I've posted that conversation with Sean of the No on Amendment 3 campaign. Along with the rest of our election coverage, that lives at krpsnews.com. Next week, we'll have somebody from the Yes on 3 campaign that believes the amendment should pass in Missouri.