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Opponents call Clean Missouri changes ‘an old-school sideshow’ in new ad

The No on 3 group released a new television advertisement as part of its campaign against Amendment 3 Tuesday, calling it a “circus” and “an old-school sideshow.”

The 30-second spot referred to Amendment 3 — which makes changes to Clean Missouri — as “5,000 words of smoke and mirrors put on the ballot by politicians.” The ad likens the changes to lobbyist gift limits and state Senate race contributions as a distraction from the redistricting provision. 

Sean Soendker Nicholson, campaign manager for No on 3, said voters should be wary about the changes the amendment would make. 

“Voters hate Amendment 3 when they learn what’s in the fine print and how politicians are trying to trick them with a $5 change to lobbyist gift limits,” Nicholson told The Missouri Times. “Amendment 3 is flawed, and voters will reject it.”

Amendment 3 would further prohibit lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and their staff and cap contributions to state Senate races at $2,400 — a $100 decrease from what was already established by the voter-approved Clean Missouri in 2018. The amendment would also alter the state’s redistricting process, eliminating the nonpartisan state demographer position in favor of granting redistricting authority to a pair of bipartisan commissions appointed by the governor. 

The official ballot language asks voters:

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: 

  • Ban gifts from paid lobbyists to legislators and their employees; Reduce legislative campaign contribution limits; 
  • Change the redistricting process voters approved in 2018 by: (i) transferring responsibility for drawing state legislative districts from the Nonpartisan State Demographer to Governor-appointed bipartisan commissions; (ii) modifying and reordering the redistricting criteria?

The ballot measure has seen controversy already, as two counties reported incorrect language on ballots last week. Around 1,700 incorrect ballots were said to have been distributed to Buchanan County.