The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday placed a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that makes it much harder for the legislature to overturn voter-approved initiatives.
The high court reversed a decision from Cole County Judge Daniel Green blocking what's known as the Respect Missouri Voters initiative from the November ballot. Under the proposed constitutional amendment, 80% of the legislature would need to vote to alter any statutory or constitutional change passed through the initiative petition process. Those alterations would still then need to be ratified through a statewide vote.
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court rejected Green's ruling and put the initiative on the ballot.
Based on preliminary numbers from the secretary of state's office, the Respect Missouri Voters initiative had enough signatures in six of eight congressional districts to make the November ballot. That means the proposal would appear as Amendment 6 on Nov. 3.
Additionally, the initiative would bar legislators from proposing anything to constrain the initiative petition process.
For instance, if the Respect Missouri Voters initiative was in place, lawmakers wouldn't have been able to propose the recently rejected Amendment 4, which would have required initiative petition-directed constitutional amendments to pass in all eight congressional districts.
In addition to the Respect Missouri Voters initiative, Missourians will also decide on constitutional amendments to reimpose a near total ban on abortion, establish a "sovereign wealth fund" and require most sheriffs to be elected.
The Missouri Supreme Court also ruled that a referendum aimed at overturning a 2025 congressional map will be on the November 2026 ballot.
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