As Election Day barrels closer, Missouri voters are already heading to the polls to weigh in on a spate of controversial issues.
Ballot questions on abortion rights and raising the state minimum wage have been making headlines for months — but some lesser-known amendments could also impact future Missouri elections. Among them is Amendment 7 , which would clarify and modify the way elections are run in the state.
The amendment would have three main impacts:
It would clarify that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Missouri elections — which is already the case under state and federal law.
It would ban ranked-choice voting in the state, with an exception for St. Louis’ nonpartisan citywide primary races, which already use this method.
It would allow only one candidate per party to win a primary and proceed to the general election, again with an exception for St. Louis’ nonpartisan primaries.
Here’s a closer look at Amendment 7 and what it would mean for Missouri voters.
What does Amendment 7 actually say?
Here’s the text for Amendment 7 that voters will see on their ballots:
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?
State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.
What would a “yes” and “no” vote mean for Amendment 7?
A “yes” vote supports changing Missouri’s constitution in several ways that wouldn’t have a significant impact on the way voting currently works in the state — but would prevent certain changes to the electoral system from being made in the future.
If the amendment succeeds, it would make ranked-choice voting illegal everywhere in Missouri except St. Louis. That means voters would only be able to cast one vote per issue or candidate, rather than assigning an order to their preference.
It would also specify that only one candidate per party can win a primary election. That would prevent two candidates from the same party who get the majority of votes in a primary from running against each other in the general election.
Finally, it would adjust the constitution to clarify that non-U.S. citizens cannot vote in Missouri elections — although this is already illegal.
A “no” vote opposes these changes to Missouri’s constitution. If the amendment fails, nothing would immediately change about the way elections are run in Missouri. But it could allow for state or local officials to introduce ranked-choice voting or mixed-party primary elections in the future.
Who supports and opposes Amendment 7?
Amendment 7 is generally supported by conservatives and opposed by progressives.
Its supporters include Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, who is the state’s Republican candidate for governor, as well as Attorney General Andrew Bailey and state Treasurer Vivek Malek.
“We need Amendment 7 to secure our elections in Missouri,” Kehoe said, according to the conservative political group Liberty Alliance USA .
Opponents of Amendment 7 include Missouri Rep. Eric Woods , the ranked choice voting group Better Ballot KC and Kansas City Councilmember Wes Rogers, who represents the 2nd District.
“What makes this amendment especially devious is that there’s actually no need for it. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in Missouri elections,” Rogers wrote in an Oct. 13 guest column in The Star . “The amendment would also prohibit two other things we don’t currently have in Missouri: ranked choice voting and open primaries.”
Are non-citizens voting in Missouri elections?
No. Non-U.S. citizens are not allowed to vote in any local, state, or federal elections in Missouri. While some Republicans, including presidential candidate Donald Trump, have claimed that non-citizens vote in large numbers in U.S. elections, these claims have been widely debunked .
An in-depth report by the Brennan Center for Justice found only around 30 instances of suspected noncitizen voting in the 2016 election from jurisdictions that tabulated over 23.5 million votes combined. And a voter fraud database compiled by the Heritage Foundation, a powerful conservative think tank, found that only one person has been indicted for voter fraud in Missouri since 1979 for voting as a non-citizen.
Do you have more questions about the upcoming election? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com .
Local News
