Missouri voters reject ballot measure limiting their power to amend state constitution

Missouri voters have rejected a ballot measure to limit their own ability to pass amendments to the state constitution — a proposal that fueled extraordinarily high voter turnout in Tuesday’s election.

Unlike in many other states, Missouri voters have the power to change the state constitution by gathering signatures to put a ballot measure to a vote. But the proposed Amendment 4 would have allowed a minority of voters to block citizen-led initiatives that had majority support.

The amendment is part of a broader effort by state Republicans to slash Missourians’ voting power. The measure would not have applied directly to citizen-led referendums — another tool Missourians have to serve as a check on legislators. 

However, Missouri state officials want to kill a proposed citizen referendum that would veto an off-cycle partisan gerrymander approved by the legislature.

Under the current rules, a citizen-led ballot initiative to change the state constitution must win a simple majority in six out of the state’s eight congressional districts. Amendment 4 would have raised that threshold, requiring initiatives to receive a majority in all eight districts.

In the past, voters have used citizen initiatives to expand Medicaid in 2020 and to protect abortion access in 2024. But those measures would have failed under Amendment 4’s higher threshold. 

The proposal was one of two ballot measures — along with an amendment to increase Missouri’s sales tax and eliminate its income tax — that drove historically high turnout for the election, the Missouri Independent reported.

Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) moved the constitutional amendments from the November general election ballot to the August primary ballot, reportedly in an attempt to boost the measures’ odds of passing in a lower turnout election. 

Missouri Republicans argued the ballot measure was necessary to protect the state against progressive policies. 

Notably, the proposed amendment would not have affected constitutional amendments that the legislature put on the ballot. State lawmakers only wanted to make it harder to pass a voter-led measure, not their own proposals.