Amendment 4: An Extreme Case Of Minority Rules

WEBSTER-KIRKWOOD TIMES | Jun 15, 2026

It’s easy to mistake the wording on Amendment 4 as pushing for a more democratic amendment process and less interference by “foreign nationals,” but that would be wrong.

The current process for citizen-initiated amendments requires getting over 170,000 valid signatures from two-thirds of Missouri’s congressional districts sent to the secretary of state for review and approval within the allotted time. Only then is the amendment placed on the ballot, where a majority of voters statewide either approve or reject it.

This process was used to expand Medicaid (53% approved), raise the minimum wage (57%) and provide paid sick leave (58%).

Amendment 4 would require majority approval in all eight congressional districts. All the amendments above would have failed under this system. Two-thirds of voters could approve an amendment, but if one congressional district disapproves by a 51% to 49% vote, the amendment is rejected. It is the most extreme case of minority rules.

There is language making it unlawful for “foreign nationals” or “foreign adversaries” to spend money to support or oppose ballot measures, but there is already a law against this: Senate Bill 152, passed in July 2025, has penalties which can be more extreme than those proposed in this amendment. There is language regarding penalties for ballot initiative signature petition fraud. There are already penalties for ballot initiative signature petition fraud stronger than the ones proposed in this amendment.

The language is meant to deceive voters into voting for this measure as a check on foreign influence and petition fraud — something we already have. The unfairness of this wholly undemocratic proposal is made clearer by the fact that ballot initiatives introduced by our state legislature would still require only a simple majority statewide to pass. Keep our last vestige of direct democracy. Vote “no” on Amendment 4.

Lawrence Lewis - Webster Groves

Read the article here: https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/amendment-4-an-extreme-case-of-minority-rules/article_871ab506-24ef-41db-9cb1-1bda7e5878ee.html