Boone County is receiving more interest in ballot initiatives than it has seen over the last ten years - the three referendums approved by voters to reach this year’s November ballot generated more than 15,000 signatures from Boone County.
In 2022, Republican lawmakers divided Boone County between the state’s Third and Fourth Congressional Districts. Voter registration and voter turnout numbers were not affected, but this did cause an increase in petitions submitted.
Boone County Clerk Briana Lennon said she’s verified over 10,000 pages of signatures — the largest number of petitions submitted since 2014.
“When we were just part of a single congressional district, that particular one was not one that was easy to collect signatures in,” Lennon said. “So we just really didn't get any petitions because the people circulating them didn't think it was worth circulating in our congressional district.”
The three amendment petitions on this year’s ballot would: overturn the state’s abortion ban, legalize sports betting, and increase Missouri's minimum wage.
A fourth petition, which aimed to build a new casino near the Lake of the Ozarks, initially failed. But the casino’s backers filed a lawsuit to try to get on the statewide ballot through the courts, and a judge this week agreed the measure should go to voters this fall.