Behind the scenes during Missouri’s initiative petition verification process

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com .

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Right now, election offices across Missouri are verifying signatures from initiative petitions to help determine which measures might end up on ballots for voters to decide this year.

The initiative petition process allows citizens to gather signatures to place questions on the ballot. This year, four groups submitted signatures for review.

The groups are pushing for an increase to minimum wage, to legalize abortion, to allow sports betting and to allow a casino at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Most petitions need 171,000 valid signatures from registered Missouri voters in six of the state’s eight congressional districts to get on a ballot.

This year, the Missouri Secretary of State is using an electronic system to send signatures from petitions to local election offices to verify. The offices need to match signatures from the petition with the person’s signature from their voter registration.

“It’s much better, it’s streamlined, we like it much better. It’s much quicker. Less man hours,” explained Shawn Kieffer, director for the Kansas City Election Board .

Chase Lucas/KSHB

Kieffer said the electronic system allows staffers to review signatures side by side for comparison instead of shuffling through thousands of pages.

“We’re not handwriting experts,” Kieffer admitted. “But we can tell by rhythms of how people sign their name, we can tell by certain capital letters on the first or last name if that’s that person or not.”

Local offices have until July 30 to complete the verification of signatures. Kieffer anticipates finishing well in advance of the deadline.

The Secretary of State’s Office must count the number of verified signatures and determine if each petition has a sufficient number by Aug. 13.

If the petitions have sufficient signatures, they’ll more than likely appear on the November ballot.

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