Missouri direct democracy ballot measure is a 'fraud on the voters,' lawsuit says

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Oct 23, 2025

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A new lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that an upcoming Missouri ballot measure attempts to deceive voters into overhauling the state’s key mechanism for direct democracy.

The lawsuit was filed by Missourians for Fair Governance, a campaign group formed by the Missouri Association of Realtors, the main advocacy organization for the state’s real estate industry.

The group argues that the ballot measure, called Amendment 4, misleads voters by burying its true intent — the direct democracy overhaul — under other bullet points. Three of those bullet points are already laws, the lawsuit said.

“By combining language that claims to adopt laws that are in fact already laws with substantive changes that impact the fundamental right of voters to approve, by a simple majority, citizen-led efforts to change the Constitution, (Amendment 4’s) ballot title is a fraud on the voters,” the lawsuit said.

The realtors are asking a Cole County judge to strike down the ballot language, as well as the wording displayed at polling places and the measure’s proposed cost. The suit calls for the language to be rewritten.

The lawsuit takes aim at a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved in 2026, would make it virtually impossible for most citizen-led amendments to pass on the ballot and drastically curtail the state’s initiative petition process.

That process serves as Missouri’s most visible form of direct democracy and allows citizens to put measures to a statewide vote. In recent years, voters have used the process to pass policies such as abortion rights, marijuana, sports betting, Medicaid expansion and an increased minimum wage.

Currently, initiatives need a simple majority (50% plus one) in order to pass. Under the proposed legislation, they would require both majority support statewide and a majority in each of the state’s eight congressional districts to pass.

Missouri would be the only state in the country with such a requirement, called a concurrent majority, according to a review of state ballot measure rules compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The higher threshold would also not apply to state lawmakers. Amendments placed on the ballot by the General Assembly would still only have to receive a simple majority statewide in order to pass.

The proposed ballot measure, approved by lawmakers this summer, marks a continuation of Republican attempts to curtail the initiative process. Republicans have for years argued that it allows outside, liberal groups to influence elections.

The lawsuit names as defendants two Republican statewide officials, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, as well as House Speaker Jonathan Patterson and Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin.

O’Laughlin said she would get back with a reporter when contacted by The Star. The three other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Initiative supporters have long defended the process as a key way for voters to petition their government on issues lawmakers fail to address.

“The citizen initiative process is a power Missouri voters approved for themselves more than a century ago, which our association has been able to use to fight for Missouri homeowners and families,” said Bobbi Howe, the president of the realtors group. “We are committed to protecting the rights and the availability of this important tool for everyone.”