August Primary: Missouri voters fail Amendment 4

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -  Missouri voters have defeated a ballot measure that would have created the nation’s most difficult standard for citizen initiatives to amend the state constitution.

Amendment 4 would have required constitutional amendments proposed by initiative petitions to pass by a majority in each of the state’s congressional districts instead of a simple statewide majority. No other state has a standard that high.

The Republican-led Legislature referred the measure to the ballot after voters in recent years narrowly passed several controversial amendments proposed through citizen initiatives. Those measures enshrined abortion rights into the state constitution, legalized recreational marijuana, allowed sports betting and expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.

None of those measures would have passed under a requirement for amendments to win approval in all congressional districts.

Under Amendment 4, the higher standard would have applied only to citizen-initiated amendments. Constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislature still would need just a statewide majority.

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