Missouri voters face four constitutional amendments in Aug. 4 primary

Gov. Mike Kehoe has signed proclamations placing four proposed constitutional amendments on Missouri’s Aug. 4, 2026, primary-election ballot, giving voters a direct role in decisions that could affect the state’s tax system, citizen-led ballot measures and county assessor offices.

The action puts the measures before voters but does not enact any of them. Election results were not available before the Aug. 4 vote, and the final amendment numbering and ballot language should be confirmed against the secretary of state’s final ballot.

Measures include tax and initiative changes

One of the proposed amendments would create a pathway to phase out Missouri’s income tax. The proposal should not be treated as an automatic, immediate repeal: its implementation would depend on the ballot language and subsequent government action.

Another proposal would make citizen-initiated constitutional amendments substantially harder to pass. The Associated Press reported that Republican lawmakers referred that measure and that it was debated in Jefferson City. The proposal concerns the process voters use to adopt constitutional amendments through citizen initiatives; it has not changed that process before the election.

A separate amendment concerns requiring the election of county assessors and related training requirements. County assessors are among the local offices that could be affected if voters approve the measure.

The governor’s announcement identifies four amendments in all. The approved source material describes the subject matter of three of them but does not provide sufficient detail to characterize the fourth measure here.

What happens next

The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. Missouri voters will determine whether the proposed constitutional changes are approved or rejected at that election; they remain proposals ahead of the vote.

The ballot questions arise from state-government action in Missouri’s capital. The measures were referred by the Missouri General Assembly, and Kehoe’s ballot announcement was issued from Jefferson City.

After the election, Missouri lawmakers are scheduled to return to Jefferson City on Sept. 16, 2026, for the annual veto session. That legislative date is separate from the ballot vote and does not determine the outcome of the constitutional-amendment questions.

For voters, the Aug. 4 ballot is consequential because the proposals address both policy and governing rules: the income-tax measure concerns the state’s tax structure, while the citizen-initiative proposal concerns the standard for approving future constitutional amendments. The county-assessor proposal would address how those offices are filled and associated training requirements.