Voters in Missouri will decide on a constitutional amendment to require voter approval of citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in each congressional district, rather than statewide.
The constitutional amendment would also add language to the Missouri Constitution prohibiting foreign nationals and foreign adversaries, as defined, from spending to support or oppose ballot measures, with penalties for violations, and regarding penalties for ballot initiative signature petition fraud. Some of these policies exist in statute, but the proposal would add them to the state constitution with certain changes.
State Rep. Ed Lewis (R-6) introduced the constitutional amendment as House Joint Resolution 3 (HJR 3) on Sept. 3, 2025.
It passed the House on Sept. 9 by a vote of 98–58: 98 Republicans voted yes, while 52 Democrats and six Republicans voted no. On Sept. 12, it passed the Senate 21–11: 21 Republicans voted yes, and nine Democrats plus two Republicans voted no.
HJR 3 would establish a supermajority requirement for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. Currently, 11 states require supermajority approval for certain ballot measures—for example, a 60% vote to amend the constitution or a higher threshold for tax-related amendments. While four states, including Missouri, require signatures to be collected from a certain number of congressional districts, none require voter approval in each congressional district. HJR 3 would create a new type of ballot measure supermajority requirement.
Missouri currently has eight congressional districts. Of these districts, in the 2024 presidential election, six districts—Districts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8—voted to elect Donald Trump (R), while two districts—District 1 and District 5—voted to elect Kamala Harris (D). Both District 1 and District 5 have a Democratic U.S. representative, while the six other districts have a Republican U.S. representative.
The amendment would also prohibit foreign nationals and foreign adversaries, as defined, from contributing to ballot measure campaigns. In addition, it would provide that initiative signature fraud is a crime, require public hearings before initiative petitions are placed on the ballot, and provide that voters receive the full text of each initiative with their ballots.
Currently, under state law, foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to ballot measure campaigns, following the passage of Senate Bill 152 in July 2025. Under existing state law, initiative petition signature fraud is treated as a Class A misdemeanor.
Rep. Lewis, who introduced the measure, said there should be a broad consensus to amend the Missouri Constitution. He stated, “There are eight congressional districts, and each one of them has exactly the same population. If you can get a majority in each one of those, that is a very broad consensus to just get a majority in each congressional district.”
Rep. Brian Seitz (R-156) also spoke in support of the amendment, saying, “It’s the most democratic thing we can do in a representative republic.”
Legislative Democrats opposed the amendment. Rep. Eric Woods (D-18) said this would create a different standard between the state legislature and citizens when it comes to amending the constitution. He stated, “We are not applying the same standard here to issues put on the ballot by the legislature is probably the most egregious part of this. You are taking power away from the citizens. You are diluting their votes. It’s the same song and dance that we have heard every time, every year that I have been in this chamber.”
Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-46) said this amendment, which passed the state legislature alongside a new map redrawing congressional district boundaries, would make it harder to amend the changes made by the redistricting. He said, “It’s about Donald Trump. He doesn’t want to lose control of the House. We’re going to redistrict, and then we’re going to take away the voters’ rights to do anything about it. Once you do that damage, it’s insidious and it’s sickening.”
Missouri voters will be deciding four ballot measures on November 3, 2026.
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