A proposal that would make it virtually impossible for voters to change the constitution or state law through the initiative petition process cleared a Missouri House committee Thursday evening.

The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly, largely mirrors a request from Gov. Mike Kehoe to require a majority of voters in all of Missouri’s eight congressional districts and a statewide majority in order to pass a constitutional amendment or state law on the ballot.

This means a very small percentage of statewide voters in just one district could defeat a ballot measure and it would only apply to citizen-led initiatives, not those placed on the ballot by the legislature. Based on last year’s general election , where 2,960,266 votes were cast for governor

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