Amendment 4: Trading one unfair system for another?

On August 4, 2026, voters in Missouri will make a very important choice about fairness at the ballot box. Amendment 4 asks citizens to change the basic rules for how the state constitution is changed. This debate has created a major tug-of-war between communities outside the heavily populated cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. A tug-of-war that does not seem fair to the rest of the state, since they always win because of their population.

Supporters of Amendment 4, such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, make a very good point when they say the current system is unfair. Today, a ballot measure only needs a 50% plus 1 vote statewide to become law. Because Kansas City and St. Louis have such massive populations, these two cities can easily produce enough votes to decide the rules for the whole state. Densely populated areas can pass laws that deeply rural communities strongly oppose. It is simply not fair that voters in a couple of cities can establish rules for a large, diverse state with many different economic and geographic needs. To the Ole Seagull, in terms of basic day-to-day fairness, that does not seem fair.

Amendment 4, if successful, will go to a strict new system that requires a winning vote in every single one of the state’s eight congressional districts. Kansas City and St. Louis are primarily in Districts 1 and 5, with some overlap in District 2. The other five congressional districts cover the rest of the state, including Taney and Stone counties.

“Hold on, Seagull, are you saying that under the new system, if just one congressional district doesn't approve it, the ballot initiative fails?” No, Amendment 4 says it.

If people think the current system is unfair, how is the Amendment 4 system any fairer? Under the current system, the populations of Kansas City and St. Louis control the outcome. Under Amendment 4, the smallest congressional district in the state can control the outcome. If voters approve Amendment 4, there could be a situation in which seven of the state’s congressional districts, including Districts 1 and 5 (Kansas City and St. Louis) and District 7, including Taney County and Branson, approve the proposed amendment, but one district does not. The amendment would fail even though most of the population and most congressional districts approve it.

From an Ole Seagull’s perspective, as imperfect as he is, he has never found fairness for himself by being unfair to someone else. He would suggest that if we look at this through the lens of basic fairness, both options have deep flaws.

Instead of forcing voters to choose between two extreme methods, how about a middle ground? Perhaps a system that requires approval in 50% of the congressional districts, plus one more, five out of eight congressional districts for approval.

“Seagull, do you believe that Amendment 4 will pass?” Basic fairness aside, surely that's a rhetorical question.