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What Everyone Needs to Know About Amendment 4
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The Missouri Constitution is a document that is meant to tell government how to govern, how to legislate. It is not meant to be a vehicle for legislation.
There are three ways to change the Missouri Constitution. 1) Constitutional Convention, 2) Initiative Petition to collect signatures and pass by voters, 3) Referendum passed by the legislature and then by the voters.
Since 2002, there have been 232 attempts to amend our Missouri Constitution.
The current initiative petition system lets out-of-state billionaires and corporations bypass our legislature. This allows these initiative petitions to be placed on the ballot with very little or no vetting or public awareness or chance for comment.
In 245 years, the U.S. Constitution has been changed 27 times. In 80 years, the Missouri Constitution has been changed, 126 times.
The Initiative Petition process is meant to be a citizen-led process. In reality it is a special interest-led process, with special interests spending millions of dollars (in most cases so they can financially benefit).
There are more words in the Marijuana Amendment to our Missouri Constitution than in the entire U.S. Constitution.
Amendment 4 is an effort to protect our Missouri Constitution from being bought by these special interest groups.
Amendment 4 ensures equal representation for all Missourians in Missouri Constitution changes.
Amendment 4 provides protections as follows:
- Guarantees broad-based approval of voters, a 50% plus one vote from all eight Congressional districts
- Prohibits donations and in-kind contributions from all foreign nationals or foreign adversaries
- Punishes Initiative Petition signature fraud as a crime, establishes clear penalties for fraudulent signatures to ensure integrity of the process
- Requires public hearings for public comment, mandates hearings before initiatives are place on the ballot
- Ensures ballot transparency by requiring the complete text of any initiative petition be provided to voters when they vote.
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