Connerly's Initiative Fails, as Missourians Reject Discrimination
Missourians Reject Discrimination
~Out-of-State Millionaire Ward Connerly's Anti Affirmative Action initiative fails to turn in signatures~
- Organizers of the so-called Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, led by rich California political operative Ward Connerly, failed to turn in signatures today in an attempt to qualify their initiative to ban affirmative action programs in Missouri. Signature petitions for all initiatives seeking to qualify for Missouri's November ballot were due today in Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's Jefferson City office. When the 5 pm deadline rolled around, it became clear that MoCRI organizers were abandoning their efforts in Missouri.
"Missourians have spoken loudly and clearly over the last several months - and they have said that Missouri will remain a state that embraces the value of fairness, and the goal of creating an equal playing field for women and racial minorities," said Brandon Davis, a spokesman for the WeCAN coalition, which opposed the ballot measure. "Affirmative action programs have been one of the most effective tools in achieving these goals in the arenas of public education and public contracting." WeCAN (Working to Empower Community Action Now) is a coalition of community, faith, labor, business, and education leaders who lined up across the state to oppose this initiative and mobilized to educate voters. Teams of WeCAN voter educators throughout the state stood alongside MoCRI petitioners to make sure that they approached citizens honestly and that citizens were aware of the impact the initiative would have on valued public programs.
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