Jefferson City, MO – Voters from around Missouri and across the ideological spectrum today defeated Amendment 4 by a margin of 81% to 19%. The Amendment, which was proposed by Jefferson City insiders as a way to curb voters’ freedom to amend the state constitution, would have created an absurd concurrent majority requirement for future citizen-initiated measures. Had it succeeded, Amendment 4 would have required that all subsequent citizen-initiated constitutional amendments – including those on November’s ballot – win not only a statewide majority, but a majority in each of Missouri’s congressional districts.
“Today, the citizens of Missouri voted for democracy,” began Kelly Hall, Executive Director of the Fairness Project, the nation’s leading ballot measure organization. “In rejecting Amendment 4, voters sent an unequivocal message that their democracy belongs to them, not to extremist politicians,” she continued. “This is an amazing moment for direct democracy and particularly for the ballot measure process. When politicians tried to exploit the process to consolidate their power, citizens reminded them of the power of the ballot to deliver people’s will.”
Throughout this cycle, the Fairness Project had backed Protect Majority Rule, the in-state coalition opposing Amendment 4. The amendment would have replaced a simple statewide majority for the ratification of citizen-initiated constitutional amendments with a new requirement that all proposed amendments achieve both a statewide majority and majorities in each congressional district. The result would have been that 5% of voters would have received an effective veto over any proposed amendment, even in the event that a future amendment attained a sweeping majority statewide.
“This was the most audacious and overt attack politicians have mounted against democracy in living memory,” declared Hall. “Our organization has tracked hundreds of attempts by politicians across the country to undermine the ballot measure process and silence their own constituents. Nowhere was any attempt been more brazen than Missouri’s Amendment 4,” she continued. “Jefferson City politicians tried to rob citizens of their right to amend their own constitution in broad daylight. Tonight, Missouri voters sent them home empty-handed.”
The Fairness Project tracks attempts by politicians to undermine direct democracy in state capitols across the country. Last year, the organization released a report, Direct Democracy Under Assault, which revealed the alarming increase in the number of attacks as well as illuminating case studies of some of the most flagrant instances of politicians attacking direct democracy. In the 2026 cycle, the group is backing multiple campaigns to protect the ballot measure process, strengthen direct democracy, protect state government from capture by corporate interests, and maintain impartial state courts.
In recent years, the Fairness Project has helped pass Missouri ballot measures to stand up for working people when politicians failed to do so. In 2018, the Fairness Project worked with local partners to pass a ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage. In 2020, the organization worked with a broad grassroots coalition to pass Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment that expanded Medicaid to 275,000 low-income Missourians. In 2024, the organization helped propel ballot measure campaigns for reproductive freedom, minimum wage increases, and paid sick leave to victory.
This year, in addition to supporting the effort to defeat Amendment 4, the Fairness Project is backing three additional Missouri campaigns whose measures are set to appear on the general election ballot on November 3. People Not Politicians is a campaign to overturn the newly passed, GOP-drawn congressional map by giving voters the power to overturn the map by ballot measure. Stop The Ban is the campaign to defeat legislatively-referred Amendment 3, which would all but ban abortion across the state. Meanwhile, Respect Missouri Voters would strengthen the ballot measure process by making it more difficult for politicians to repeal or undermine citizen-passed legislation.