Higher bar for Missouri ballot measures OK’d by state House

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — It would be harder for citizens to amend Missouri’s Constitution under a proposal gaining traction in the state Legislature. The Missouri House on Thursday voted 98-53 in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment. Currently, voters can amend the Constitution with a simple majority vote. Under the pending measure, it would take a two-thirds vote. The proposal also would require petition gatherers to collect more signatures and to get signatures from every Missouri congressional district in order to put a proposal to a public vote in the first place. If passed by the state Senate, the measure to raise the bar for changing the Constitution would go before voters.