The process of approving proposed amendments to Missouri’s constitution brought through the initiative petition process will remain the same.
Voters rejected Amendment 4 in Tuesday's election, with the no votes making up 81.7% of the unofficial count at 8:23 p.m.
The failure of Amendment 4 means future proposed constitutional amendments brought by the public will still need a simple majority of a statewide vote to pass.
That’s less difficult to achieve than the process under Amendment 4, which would have required the same amendments to pass in all eight of Missouri’s congressional districts.
Missourians have used the initiative petition process to pass several constitutional amendments over the years. They include measures to expand Medicaid, legalize medical and recreational marijuana and overturn Missouri’s near-total abortion ban.
Republican lawmakers for years have attempted to make it harder to amend the constitution, saying it gives too much power to out-of-state interests to change policies in Missouri. For several sessions, many called it their No. 1 priority.
However, disagreements on what reforming the initiative petition process should be, along with stalwart opposition from Democrats, hurt its chances. Ideas included raising the signature threshold or increasing the overall required voting percentage.
It took until a special session in 2025 for Republican lawmakers to pass the resolution that became Amendment 4. This version was much more restrictive than those prior attempts.
Amendment 4’s requirements would have only been applicable to proposed amendments brought by Missouri citizens. Proposed constitutional amendments passed by the state legislature and put on the ballot would have only required a simple majority to pass.
Supporters of Amendment 4 said its passage would have given rural voters a stronger voice.
Opponents said the changes would have effectively killed the initiative petition process for proposed constitutional amendments and ended majority rule.
The new requirements would not have applied to proposed statutory changes brought by the public. But lawmakers have an easier path to overturn statutory changes compared to constitutional amendments.
While changing the constitution needs another vote of the public, overturning a statute change just requires passing a new law.
In 2025, Missouri Republicans overturned a statute change approved by almost 58% of Missouri voters in 2024 that implemented a paid sick leave policy.
If passed, Amendment 4 also would have placed within the Missouri Constitution language on foreign spending and petition fraud.
It also would have required the full text of any statewide ballot measure proposed by the initiative petition process to be available to each voter with their ballots.
