Two amendments will be on the ballot for Missouri citizens to vote on this coming general election (November 3, 2020). The names for the two amendments are Amendment 1 and Amendment 2.
Amendment 1
Amendment 1 will appear on the ballot like this:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to extend the two term restriction that currently applies to the Governor and Treasurer to the Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Attorney General?
State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings from this proposal. [1]
This amendment limits the amount of terms a person can hold a single elected position to no more than twice in a lifetime. If an individual holds a position that he or she was not elected to, for more than four years, it will count as a term in that office.
If this amendment passes, term limits will be applied to all statewide elected officials, which are Governor, Treasurer, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, and the Attorney General.
If this amendment fails, term limits will remain only on Governor and Treasurer (since these positions already have the term limits). The status quo will be kept.
If anyone wants to read the amendment, you can read it here https://www.senate.mo.gov/19info/pdf-bill/tat/SJR14.pdf
and the current Missouri constitution here https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Publications/CurrentMissouriConstitution.pdf
Amendment 3
Amendment 3 will appear on the ballot like this:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Ban gifts from paid lobbyists to legislators and their employees;
- Reduce legislative campaign contribution limits;
- Change the redistricting process voters approved in 2018 by: (i) transferring responsibility for drawing state legislative districts from the Nonpartisan State Demographer to Governor-appointed bipartisan commissions; (ii) modifying and reordering the redistricting criteria. [2]
Amendment 3 will reduce the possible amount of money a lobbyist can gift from $5 to $0.
Reduce the amount of campaign contributions for state senators to $2,400 ( it was previously $2,500).
But, the main thing amendment 3 will change is how redistricting will be handled in Missouri.
The current way in which redistricting is handled in Missouri is the way we voted on in 2018. A nonpartisan state demographer is hired to draw the political districts who prioritizes fairness and competitiveness(50%/50% split per district) over keeping communities and counties together.
If amendment 3 passes, the governor will select a bipartisan commission to make the redistricting, which will prioritize keeping communities and counties together (one county should be kept in one district or at the most two districts), and if possible, obtain fairness and competitiveness in each district. It just means one district shouldn’t split eight counties if possible.
To read amendment 3 go to https://www.senate.mo.gov/20info/pdf-bill/tat/SJR38.pdf
Notes:
- ^https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/petitions/2020BallotMeasures (go back ↩)
- ^https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/petitions/2020BallotMeasures (go back ↩)
