GOP plan would make amending Missouri constitution harder for liberals but not conservatives

Missouri Republican-run state Senate voted Thursday evening to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for progressives—but not conservatives—to change the state's governing document.

If the state House, where Republicans also dominate, assents to the Senate's plan, the amendment would appear before voters on the Aug. 6 primary ballot. The legislature's moves come at a time when reproductive rights advocates are trying to place an amendment on the ballot this year that would end Missouri's near-total abortion ban.

Under the Senate's proposal, constitutional amendments would need to earn both a majority of the vote statewide and win in a majority of the state's eight congressional districts. The state's current rules, however, require only a statewide majority for the GOP's amendment to become law.

The Show Me State favored Donald Trump 57-41 in 2020, so any amendments backed by progressives already need to win crossover support from conservative voters. But thanks in large part to Republican gerrymandering, this new proposal would make that task even more difficult.