Protect Majority Rule MO Launches Campaign to Defeat Amendment 4
St. Louis, MO – A broad coalition of Missourians — Republicans, Independents, and Democrats — launched a campaign to defeat politicians’ power grab and effort to effectively strip citizens of their ability to shape state policy via the ballot initiative process.
The campaign is uniting voters from every corner of the state around one simple belief: Missourians — not politicians and their special interest donors — should decide what becomes law.
"This is about who holds the power in Missouri," said M’Evie Mead, campaign director for Protect Majority Rule MO. "Right now, if a majority of Missouri voters support something, it passes. That's how democracy is supposed to work. Amendment 4 would end that, and we're going to stop it."
Amendment 4, placed on the ballot by the legislature, would rewrite Missouri's constitution to make it nearly impossible for citizens to pass ballot measures. Under the current system, a ballot measure passes when it earns a majority of votes statewide — a straightforward standard that Missourians have relied on for generations. Amendment 4 would throw that out the window.
Instead, a measure would be required to win a majority of votes in all eight of Missouri's congressional districts in order to pass. That means a single congressional district — representing as little as 7% of Missouri's total voters — could cancel out the will of the entire rest of the state. One district. Seven percent. That's all it would take to override what every other Missourian voted for.
“Amendment 4 would mean that just a single congressional district can veto the will of the majority on any amendment,” said Brandon Flinn, Business Manager for the Missouri and Kansas Laborers District Council. “Put simply, that means it will end majority rule and make it nearly impossible for citizens to utilize the initiative petition process to hold politicians accountable when they fail us on any issue like improving pay for working families, lowering everyday costs, and caring for our communities.”
Missouri voters have used the ballot initiative process to pass minimum wage increases, Medicaid expansion, and ethics reforms — often over the objections of the very politicians now pushing Amendment 4. The coalition sees the measure for what it is: a calculated effort by politicians and their allies to lock the door on citizen-led change.
"When politicians can't beat us at the ballot box, they try to change the rules," said Luz Henríquez, Executive Director, Missouri ACLU. "Amendment 4 is a rigged system designed to make sure your voice doesn’t count, because it would let voters in just one congressional district veto the majority of voters."
Kay Park, President of the League of Women Voters Missouri added, “We should never vote to give up our own power. That's exactly what Amendment 4 asks us to do — hand our power directly to politicians who are attempting to silence our collective voices with Amendment 4. We say NO.”
Protect Majority Rule MO is a 501(c)(4) organization, registered as a Missouri committee, composed of a coalition of Missourians — Republicans, Independents, and Democrats — to fight politicians’ power grab and effort to effectively strip citizens of their ability to shape state policy via the ballot initiative process.
St. Louis, MO – Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected Amendment 4, turning back an attempt by politicians to rewrite the rules of democracy in their own favor. The result caps a campaign that brough
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