Every election is important, and voting is both a privilege and a responsibility. Voting is an important first step in policy advocacy. Voting alone won\u2019t dismantle the systems that harm us and save our community members from harm, but certainly those goals won\u2019t be reached without voting. Empower Missouri is a 501c-3 nonprofit, meaning we do not engage in any candidate campaigns, and we won\u2019t ever tell you who to vote for or make comments about specific individuals while they are running for office. We will, however, frequently talk to you about issues on the ballot, and sometimes choose to endorse a specific vote for or against. The November 2026 ballot in Missouri is full of important issues, and here are the things we believe you should be considering as you decide how to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enmienda 3<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prohibits abortion in most cases, and prohibits gender transition procedures for minors under eighteen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting off strong (and making me question my decision to go down the ballot in order), is this question about abortion access and (supposedly) gender transition procedures. As a reminder of recent history, in 2019 the Missouri state legislature passed what was called a \u2018trigger bill\u2019, which would limit access to abortion in Missouri if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. Roe was overturned in 2022 and nearly immediately abortion was outlawed in Missouri in all cases. In 2024, a ballot measure was placed on the ballot via the initiative petition process and was approved by the voters, enshrining access to, \u201cthe right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions<\/a>.” In 2025, the Missouri legislature used a controversial maneuver<\/a> to put the issue back in front of voters which would restrict that access except in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomaly, rape, or incest. That is what we\u2019re voting on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even before I began this work, my mantra was, \u2018if you have to lie about your bill, it isn\u2019t a very good bill and you know it.\u2019 The signs and pro A3 campaign materials all stress the importance of banning gender reassignment surgery for minors. I guess they\u2019re all hoping voters will forget that Missouri already has a ban on this type of procedure<\/a> for youth under the age of 18. Missouri kids are not receiving any gender affirming care, puberty blockers or hormonal therapy at all, and especially not surgery. Medicaid is not paying for any gender affirming care for any age. This is a non-issue here. Ballot candy, by design, is to make an issue more appealing to voters who may not be fully informed, and this ballot candy is misleading. Empower Missouri hasn\u2019t taken a formal stance on abortion access in decades, and we won\u2019t today. But I\u2019ll just say, if you have to lie about your bill\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendment 6<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prohibit the legislature from repealing or amending a citizen initiative unless at least 80% of both the House and Senate vote to refer a proposed change to the ballot. Voters then approve the change, prohibit the legislature from making changes to the citizen initiative and referendum process, among other changes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember August? In August, the Missouri state legislature put an issue on the ballot which would greatly restrict the rights of Missourians to create laws through the initiative petition process. We did not like that<\/a>, and Amendment 4 was rejected by a majority in every county. Amendment 6 also would impact the initiative petition (IP) process; however, this time, it would strengthen it. We have two paths to institute change through the IP. We can pass a statutory change, which just becomes regular law. These statutes are designed to be flexible, and changes to statute happen via the legislature every single year. We could also pass things as constitutional amendments, meaning they can only be altered via a statewide vote. In 2024, Missouri voters approved Proposition A, which included a variety of worker protections, a higher minimum wage, and guaranteed paid sick leave. In 2025, the Missouri state legislature changed that policy without asking the voters, and thousands of Missouri workers lost the right to stay home when they had the flu.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendment 6 will make it more difficult for the legislature to change a policy immediately after the voters pass it, however, It won\u2019t be impossible. In case of some sort of extraordinarily terrible policy, legislators could still send it back to the people to vote on again. Otherwise, lawmakers would need to leave it alone. The amendment also prevents lawmakers from misleading voters via the summary and enshrines all current initiative petition and referendum rights. Empower Missouri firmly supports a \u2018Yes\u2019 vote on this issue. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendment 7<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create a permanent public endowment fund managed by the state to generate revenue, and use the earnings to eliminate state-imposed taxes when sufficient to replace them. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember August? In August the Missouri state legislature asked us to let the legislature raise other taxes with the long term goal of eradicating the state income tax. We didn\u2019t like that, with 83% voting against it.<\/a> This is another taxing scheme with shaky promises. This time they want permission to move general revenue funds into a new public endowment, invest it, and eventually eliminate all state taxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone trying to balance their home budgets is aware, if you can\u2019t pay your electric bill, you shouldn\u2019t start a Lularoe business. Missouri is facing a budget shortfall of at least $2 billion in 2027, we\u2019re not in a financial position to put resources into a hope and prayer fund to end taxes. There is no clear revenue goal at which point taxes could be eliminated, no plan as to which taxes would come first or who would be impacted, and no promise to leave vital services like education in place. Proyecto de presupuesto de Missouri<\/a> estimated Missouri would need the fund to grow to over $600 Billion before eliminating taxes, and my napkin math estimates that would take a super long time. Even worse, the language allows for lawmakers to later reinstate those taxes and even increase them without a vote, essentially giving away our rights under the Hancock amendment<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendment 8<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Require the election of county sheriffs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n County sheriffs in Missouri are already elected positions. In November 2028, nearly every county will be electing their sheriff, just like they did in November 2024, and will again in November 2032. In most Missouri counties, anyone with a peace officer license who has lived in the county for more than one year and paid their taxes is eligible to run for sheriff, Amendment 8 will not change any of that. What it will change however, is the process for removal. This is important; local community members should be electing their law enforcement leadership and should be responsible to keep them accountable. Under current law, and if this amendment fails, either your local county prosecutor (another locally elected official) or the attorney general is able to initiate removal of a sheriff if needed. Generally, this is pretty rare. Three sheriffs have been removed in the last decade: Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson in 2017, Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers in 2024, and Alfred Montgomery in St Louis City in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, the Sheriff department structure exists in statute, meaning these offices are not in the constitution. Passage of amendment 8 would also change that, further enshrining this law enforcement office. Some advocates also want us to pay attention to this line in the language<\/a>, recognizing, \u201cthe office of sheriff as part of the administration of justice.\u201d This line could be used as evidence that the sheriff department is part of the judicial system, and therefore could be eligible to enact fees for the support of their payroll and pension programs. Empower Missouri recommends a \u2018No\u2019 vote on this issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, Prop A<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Uphold House Bill 1, which provided for new congressional districts (“yes” upholds, and “no” repeals)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember August? Ok maybe that one is played out… <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you need a quick refresher, in 2025 Governor Kehoe called for a special session (a few days outside of the regular session where the legislature convenes around a single issue). The charge from the Governor was to put IP changes in front of the voters (they did, we defeated them) and to pass a new congressional map mid-decade. Congressional maps are supposed to be compact and fairly represent the electorate. These districts are usually drawn every 10 years after a census, which is the best time we can know who lives where in our state. The current maps we have in Missouri were drawn in 2022, but in 2025 President Trump called on lawmakers all around the country to redraw their congressional districts ahead of the midterm election to give Republican lawmakers chances to pick up new congressional seats. Missouri answered that call, redistributing MO District 5 in an effort to prevent Representative Cleaver from serving another term and ensuring that Republicans were likely to control seven of Missouri\u2019s eight Congressional seats (a \u201c7-1 map\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n