MISSOURI, USA — Missourians will vote on a lot more than local officials, statewide politicians, and even the president this November.
Multiple pushes for changes to state law have been ongoing over the past year, on topics ranging from the state's strict abortion ban, sports betting, and the minimum wage.
Missouri citizens can directly participate in changes to state law through the ballot initiative petition process, but they must first get "sufficient" signatures from other voters as determined by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
The signatures were delivered to Ashcroft on July 30. He now has until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to issue a "certificate of sufficiency" for proposals deemed to have enough verified signatures.
Missouri's 2024 November ballot amendments and propositions:
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Missouri voters could face choice between continued abortion ban and new constitutional amendment
Ballot text for proposition, according to the secretary of state's website:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;
- remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;
- allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;
- require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and
- allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Campaign to legalize sports betting in Missouri gets help from mascots to haul voter signatures
Ballot text for proposition:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to regulate licensed sports wagering including online sports betting, gambling boats, professional sports betting districts and mobile licenses to sports betting operators;
- restrict sports betting to individuals physically located in the state and over the age of 21;
- allow license fees prescribed by the Commission and a 10% wagering tax on revenues received to be appropriated for education after expenses incurred by the Commission and required funding of the Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund; and
- allow for the general assembly to enact laws consistent with this amendment?
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Group turns in signatures to put minimum wage hike, paid sick leave on Missouri ballot
Ballot text for proposition:
Do you want to amend Missouri law to:
- increase minimum wage January 1, 2025 to $13.75 per hour, increasing $1.25 per hour each year until 2026, when the minimum wage would be $15.00 per hour;
- adjust minimum wage based on changes in the Consumer Price Index each January beginning in 2027;
- require all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked;
- allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to provide oversight and enforcement; and
- exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions?
Ballot text for proposition:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Make the Constitution consistent with state law by only allowing citizens of the United States to vote;
- Prohibit the ranking of candidates by limiting voters to a single vote per candidate or issue; and
- Require the plurality winner of a political party primary to be the single candidate at a general election?
Ballot text for proposition:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to preserve funding of law enforcement personnel for the administration of justice?
One proposition didn't make the cut for Missouri's 2024 November ballot:
A proposition to issue a new gambling boat license for a casino on a portion of the Osage River near the Lake of the Ozarks failed to receive enough verified signatures, Ashcroft said.
Original text of the proposition:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue one additional gambling boat license to operate on the portion of the Osage River from the Missouri River to the Bagnell Dam;
- require the prescribed location shall include artificial spaces that contain water and are within 500 feet of the 100-year base flood elevation as established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
- require all state revenues derived from the issuance of the gambling boat license shall be appropriated to the STEM Career Awareness Program Fund, or its successor fund?