OSAGE COUNTY — Voters will choose candidates for federal, state, and county offices and decide four proposed constitutional amendments and a congressional redistricting referendum in the Nov. 3 general election.

The race for Osage County recorder of deeds pits Republican Carrie A. Muenks against Democrat Vickie Huckstep.

Seven other county races have one candidate listed on the ballot, all Republicans: Sonya Brandt for associate circuit judge, Darryl L. Griffin for presiding commissioner, Maryann Jacquin for circuit clerk, Brooke Dudenhoeffer for county clerk, Amanda Grellner for prosecuting attorney, Denise Nolte for collector of revenue, and Valerie Prater for treasurer.

For state representative in the 61st District, Republican Bruce Sassmann faces Democrat Stacy Bax. Republican Ben Brown and Democrat Vicky Wors are running for state senator in the 26th District.

The Third Congressional District race includes Republican Bob Onder, Democrat Bethany E Mann, and Libertarian Jim Higgins.

For state auditor, voters will choose among Republican Scott Fitzpatrick, Democrat Quentin Wilson, and Libertarian Dustin Coffell.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Amendment 3 would repeal the reproductive healthcare rights amendment approved by voters in 2024, including its provisions for abortion through fetal viability. The proposal would allow abortions for rape and incest under 12 weeks’ gestation, medical emergencies, and fetal anomalies that would make life outside the womb impossible. It would allow legislation regulating abortion providers, facilities, and procedures; require parental consent for minors’ abortions, with an exception for medical emergencies when consent cannot be obtained, and allow lawmakers to provide for consent through a court order; and prohibit gender transition procedures for minors, with exceptions for specified medical conditions.

Missouri already prohibits gender transition surgeries for anyone under 18 and generally prohibits hormones and puberty blockers for that purpose under Section 191.1720, RSMo, the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. The medication ban expires Aug. 28, 2027, and exempts patients who began treatment before Aug. 28, 2023. The surgery ban has no expiration date. Amendment 3 would place the prohibitions in the Missouri Constitution without the medication ban’s expiration date or existing-patient exemption.

State governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.

Amendment 6, proposed by initiative petition, would protect citizens’ ability to collect signatures to put proposed laws and constitutional amendments on the ballot or ask voters to approve or reject laws passed by the legislature. It would establish those powers as a fundamental right, prohibit lawmakers from weakening them, and allow courts to revise ballot summaries when challenged through lawsuits. Lawmakers would need approval from at least 80% of the members in each legislative chamber to refer proposed changes to voter-enacted laws back to voters or to pass laws similar to those voters rejected through a referendum. Existing signature requirements and the simple-majority vote needed for passage would remain unchanged.

Amendment 7 would establish a permanent public endowment fund to support state government. It would prohibit the General Assembly from withdrawing or diverting money from the fund until the fund generates sufficient revenue to replace all state-imposed taxes. If lawmakers enact new taxes to build the fund, those taxes would also increase the revenue its investment earnings must replace before withdrawals could begin. The amendment does not guarantee the fund will ever reach that threshold.

The fund would receive legislative appropriations and could accept gifts, donations, grants, and bequests. The state treasurer would invest the money in funds tracking the S&P 500. The amendment also states that the General Assembly would retain “full authority” to establish or increase taxes if the fund cannot meet its obligations because of insolvency, a revenue shortfall, or program failure. Although the Missouri Constitution already grants the legislature taxing authority, that power is subject to constitutional restrictions, including voter-approval requirements for certain tax increases. The amendment does not specify whether its “full authority” provision would supersede those existing restrictions.

Once withdrawals are permitted, annual distributions would be limited to 3% of the fund’s average market value over the preceding five fiscal years.

Amendment 8 addresses the office of county sheriff. It would preserve citizens’ right to elect a sheriff, place existing statutory requirements for four-year terms and sheriffs’ duties into the Missouri Constitution, and prohibit removal of an elected sheriff except through a court proceeding initiated by the attorney general challenging the sheriff’s legal right to hold office, known as a writ of quo warranto, rather than through voter recall or a general judgment about competence. The amendment would also recognize the office as part of the administration of justice.

State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings for Amendments 6, 7, and 8.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS AND JUDGES

Proposition A asks voters whether to approve House Bill 1 from the General Assembly’s 2025 second extraordinary session. The legislation repeals Missouri’s existing congressional plan and replaces it with new congressional boundaries described in the ballot language as keeping more counties intact. State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.

Voters will also decide whether to retain Missouri Supreme Court Judge Paul C. Wilson and Eastern District Court of Appeals judges Virginia W. Lay, Rebeca Navarro-McKelvey, and Angela Turner Quigless. Each judge appears as a separate yes-or-no question for retention for a new term.

The ballot includes items on both sides.

ELECTION JUDGES’ INITIALS REQUIRED ON BALLOTS

Contrary to a claim circulating on social media, election judges’ required initials do not spoil a ballot. Under Section 115.433, RSMo, two election judges—either from different political parties or one from a major party and one with no political affiliation—must initial paper ballots before voters cast them. This follows the voter-identification process, during which judges initial the precinct register or mark the electronic pollbook after satisfactorily identifying the voter. The ballot initials are a required part of that process, not grounds for disqualification.