07/23/2026
To the Republican voters of St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County and Jefferson County:
The County Chairs of the regional counties have been made aware of an incident which occurred about a week ago in St. Charles County during a demonstration against Amendment 4. It is now time for us as the County Chairs to respond.
The radical left is using Missouri as a laboratory for their failed policies by exploiting our citizen initiative petition process to hijack our Constitution. Amendment 4, on the ballot this August, is the urgent reform we need to stop them.
Our current system, created by Progressives in 1908, was meant to empower citizens. Instead, it has been captured by out-of-state billionaires and special interests who pay professional signature gatherers—sometimes through fraud and deception—to place extreme measures on the ballot. Over the past 23 years, progressives have successfully passed 14 constitutional amendments on issues like abortion on demand, ma*****na legalization, Medicaid expansion, and minimum wage increases. These are policy fights, not fundamental rights, and they do not belong permanently etched in our Constitution.
Conservative efforts to protect life, school choice, property rights, and election integrity have almost never qualified for the ballot.
Foreign and out-of-state money has poured in to tip the scales. Amendment 4 will ban donations from foreign nationals and governments. It will criminalize petition fraud, including forged signatures, misleading signers, and turning in falsified sheets. It will require public hearings and full, clear ballot text so voters are not confused by manipulative language.
Most importantly, Amendment 4 ensures broad support: Any constitutional amendment must win a simple majority in every congressional district. This protects all Missourians—urban, suburban, and rural—from having one region’s narrow interests dictate changes to our founding document. Consider the 2019 city-county merger proposal that nearly reached the ballot as a constitutional amendment. Without this requirement, massive liberal turnout in St. Louis City and Kansas City could have imposed a merger on St. Louis County residents, leaving them powerless to stop it. Requiring geographic buy-in across congressional districts guarantees that voters in the Second Congressional District and throughout St. Louis County have a genuine voice in any such transformative proposal.
Amendment 4 leaves the easier process for statutory initiatives and referendums untouched. Citizens will still have a strong voice on everyday laws.
Right now, new radical petitions are circulating to eliminate school choice, impose rent control, redefine marriage, and lock in higher minimum wages and mandates as constitutional requirements. If they pass, they will be nearly impossible to repeal.
Our Constitution should be treated as a sacred, stable document—like the U.S. Constitution—not a tool for direct democracy experiments or special interest monopolies. As James Madison warned, frequent appeals to amend it erode public respect for government and stir unnecessary passions.
St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County and Jefferson County republicans understand what is at stake for our families, jobs, and way of life.
Vote YES on Amendment 4 this August. It is one of the most important votes you will cast to defend our representative republic and Missouri values.
In liberty,
Rene Artman – Chair St. Louis County
Kirk Hilzinger – Chair St. Louis City
Bob Eno – Chair St. Charles County
Sharon L. Swan – Acting Chair Jefferson County
