Just curious, what is the consensus on the ballot items in MO?

Strait R.

No on everything. Especially Amendment 1

No more taxes.
Everything on the ballot is a pox on freedom loving folks.

Yep

Listened to a state elected official try to defend the gas tax increase on KMOX yesterday (10/30/18).

Pure political bs and double talk with too much opportunity for massive abuse in allocations and fund management. Massive spending increases planned with little accountability. Excuses and generalities about who would benefit and how the money is already being used ...new tax would simply supplement what's already being used? Ummm, no.

Missouri is certainly in the socialist cross hairs and from the sheer amount of ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments being created, they're trying to overwhelm us with misleading information and obfuscate their intent to suck every drop of tax money they can create into government spending by painting the tax as a blue-collar work expansion bill.

And I'm not falling for the medical MJ shit. Those propositions create a huge new bureaucracy for an already huge and expensive state regulatory agency. IMO, DHS already has their fingers in too many pies. They don't need more pies or cakes or fingers. Trying to read the regulatory language in the propositions was exhausting. Enforcing the regulations is going to be expensive and time consuming and, to me, too expensive with no benefit to anyone except those who are going to operate licensed dispensaries. And of course the state collecting the taxes and creating new taxes to expand their bureaucracy to enforce more laws they'll create to further regulate the dispensaries. Nope.

Just decriminalize it. Stop trying to pass it off as 'prescription medication' for sick people.

There are no amendments or propositions or initiatives on the ballot I can find any support for. None.

I hope they all fail and CM loses by at least 10 percent leaving no chance for a recount or challenge.

The only places I see signs supporting the gas tax are quarries and asphalt companies, the only people who would actually benefit from it

Amendment 1 - NO
Amendment 2 - NO
Amendment 3 - NO
Amendment 4 - YES
PROP B - NO
PROP C - YES
PROP D - NO

This is taking into conversations with friends of mine who are MO House Reps  Lot of Soros money in some of these amendments.  Vote them down.

I agree with the above choices, and plan on the same.

Constitutional Amendment No. 1

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: -change process and criteria for redrawing state legislative districts during reapportionment; -change limits on campaign contributions that candidates for state legislature can accept from individuals or entities; -establish a limit on gifts that state legislators, and their employees, can accept from paid lobbyists; -prohibit state legislators, and their employees, from serving as paid lobbyists for a period of time; -prohibit political fundraising by candidates for or members of the state legislature on State property; and -require legislative records and proceedings to be open to the public? State governmental entities estimate annual operating costs may increase by $189,000. Local governmental entities expect no fiscal impact.

Constitutional Amendment No. 2

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: -allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and create regulations and licensing/certification procedures for marijuana and marijuana facilities; -impose a 4 percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana; and -use funds from these taxes for health and care services for military veterans by the Missouri Veterans Commission and to administer the program to license/certify and regulate marijuana and marijuana facilities? This proposal is estimated to generate annual taxes and fees of $18 million for state operating costs and veterans programs, and $6 million for local governments. Annual state operating costs are estimated to be $7 million.

Constitutional Amendment No. 3

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: -allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and create regulations and licensing procedures for marijuana and marijuana facilities; -impose a 15 percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana, and a tax on the wholesale sale of marijuana flowers and leaves per dry-weight ounce to licensed facilities; and -use funds from these taxes to establish and fund a state research institute to conduct research with the purpose of developing cures and treatments for cancer and other incurable diseases or medical conditions? This proposal is estimated to generate annual taxes and fees of $66 million. State governmental entities estimate initial implementation costs of $186,000 and increased annual operating costs of $500,000.

Constitutional Amendment No. 4

Do you want to amend the Missouri constitution to: -remove language limiting bingo game advertising that a court ruled unenforceable; and -allow a member of a licensed organization conducting bingo games to participate in the management of bingo games after being a member of the organization for six months instead of the current two years? State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings from this proposal.

Proposition B

Do you want to amend Missouri law to: -increase the state minimum wage to $8.60 per hour with 85 cents per hour increase each year until 2023, when the state minimum wage would be $12.00 per hour; -exempt government employers from the above increase; and -increase the penalty for paying employees less than the minimum wage? State and local governments estimate no direct costs or savings from the proposal, but operating costs could increase by an unknown annual amount that could be significant. State and local government tax revenue could change by an unknown annual amount ranging from a $2.9 million decrease to a $214 million increase depending on business decisions.

Proposition C

Do you want to amend Missouri law to: -remove state prohibitions on personal use and possession of medical cannabis (marijuana) with a written certification by a physician who treats a patient diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition; -remove state prohibitions on growth, possession, production, and sale of medical marijuana by licensed and regulated facilities, and a facility's licensed owners and employees; -impose a 2% tax on the retail sale of medical marijuana; and -use funds from this tax for veterans' services, drug treatment, early childhood education, and for public safety in cities with a medical marijuana facility? State government entities estimate initial and one-time costs of $2.6 million, annual costs of $10 million, and annual revenues of at least $10 million. Local government entities estimate no annual costs and are expected to have at least $152,000 in annual revenues.

Proposition D

Shall Missouri law be amended to fund Missouri state law enforcement by increasing the motor fuel tax by two and one half cents per gallon annually for four years beginning July 1, 2019, exempt Special Olympic, Paralympic, and Olympic prizes from state taxes, and to establish the Emergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund? If passed, this measure will generate at least $288 million annually to the State Road Fund to provide for the funding of Missouri state law enforcement and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction and maintenance.

Suppose to be a lot of judges on the ballot this election. How do you guys find info on who's running and the info we need to keep form voting for activist judges?

http://www.yourmissourijudges.org/reviews/

seems reasonable, not overly lib, but none of the judges in my district are reviewed, just statewide and major cities.

So, I just read the plain text of Amendment 1.  A lot of it seems fine, back down contributions, limit gifts, more sunshine, etc.

https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/petitions/2018BallotMeasures

Quote:
Currently, bipartisan house and senate commissions redraw boundaries and those maps are adopted if 70% of the commissioners approve the maps.  This amendment has a state demographer chosen from a panel selected by the state auditor redraw the boundaries and submit those maps to the house and senate commissions.  This amendment would then allow changes to the demographer's maps only if 70% of the commissioners vote to make changes and do so within two months after receiving the maps from the state demographer.
End Quote.

So, instead of our elected critters redrawing the maps, the Auditor picks a guy to redraw them, and our elected critters can only approve it, or make changes if 70% of them approve.  Wow.  (a) it makes the Auditor's office vastly more important, and (b) just wow.  That is a massive transfer and concentration of power in a state demographer.  It could be very good, it will probably be very bad.  Case in point, I get a D Auditor in an R state.  He takes all the rural R districts and shifts them so half have two incumbent R's, half have zero incumbents living in the district.

I'm a hard no on 1 and 3, and pretty much a soft no on everything else.  I may vote for 4 and C.  More likely 4, I just looked at it, it removes advertising requirements that a court ruled unconstitutional, and does very little else.  https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/HJR59-SignedCopy.pdf

Amendment 1 is funded by a liberal billionaire couple in Texas......they are currently doing the same thing in several other states.  Very fishy.  Money coming in from another state to stop "dark money" in our state.

Like I said, get it passed, funnel a buttload of money into getting a D Auditor as well, and bam!  Just simply messing with the districts the way I describe would take out half the incumbents in one go, or at least force them to move and meet & greet new people.

I'm not no on 1, I'm Hell no on 1.

This is like that bullshit "freedom to farm" and puppy mill measures on the ballot in years past.  They got that "feel good" wording on them and both passed because STL & KC city dwellers didn't know what they were really about.  Both had a bunch of out of state and big money pumped into them.  The legislature stepped in and fixed it in the next session luckily...…..but there should really be some sort of vetting process for these before they get on the ballot.  100K or so signatures is nothing and these people collecting signatures are questionable at best.

Missouri is not really considered an activist judge state.  Our federal court system is largely very conservative.  The 8th circuit encompasses the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas.  I have practiced here for 24 years and am proud of our judicial heritage.

Any thoughts on the state auditor's race?

Based on the chance of 1 passing, hard R.  Saundra McDowell.

EDIT:  that's with knowing nothing about the auditors at all.

On the MO Supreme Court Judges, it appears they were all appointed by democrats except for Brent Powell, who was appointed by Greitens.

Take that for what it's worth.

Straight Red

Amendment 1 - NO
Amendment 2 - NO
Amendment 3 - NO
Amendment 4 - YES
PROP B - NO
PROP C - NO
PROP D - NO

On the MO Supreme Court Judges,
Brent Powell  -  YES
Mary Russell  -   NO
Edward Ardini  - NO

Pulled up to my polling place in St. Charles at 5:17 a.m.

Not a soul around

Mine opens at 6.  I was #7 through the door and #2 submitted into the machine.  Go Claire!!  (I keed, I keed)

Thanks, it'll come in handy.  I'll be in line in 10 minutes.  -M

This. No on all ballot initiatives.

Straight R.

Guesstimate 200 people waiting to vote at 6:00AM.

Looked like a mostly MAGA crowd voting on the way to work.

In and out in 30 minutes. Good traffic/parking control, well organized.

FCM

This was my experience in St Charles. Cars were starting to orbit the parking lot by 5:30. I’ve never seen anything close to this kind of turnout. Everything moved really quickly though. I was out in a little more than 30 minutes I think.

It did not appear to be a blue wave, but I guess it was a bit early for those folks.

I live in KCMO but the north part and vote in a small community. No lines when I got there at 8am. You guys think they can get these weed votes counted by the time CVS closes?

Wow, the Armory down here in Farmington was packed.  Line almost outside.

Half the ballot was bastards asking for pay raises.   Wording on amendment 1 was fairly obfuscative.

I’m going at 2:30 and will be voting straight R. I hope Hawley wins and McCuntskill gets booted.

I sure hope so. Knowing all those millions spent on anti-Hawley ads was wasted would be a nice bonus.

I'm more worried about amendment 1 than anything.

I voted no on everything except 2.

Based on the look of the crowd I saw, I don't have a warm and fuzzy.

Today was the busiest I've ever seen my polling station. That being said, I've never been there at 6 am to vote, I usually go later. I was in and out in about 30 minutes or so.

7:30, 4 people in front of me, parking lot 80% full?  I was vote # 201.  No idea what normal is, first time voting at this location.

4:30, heading home, the church on Chapel Hill in CoMo looked full (and much bigger than my location).  My location also looked full.

I kept my record for not voting straight ticket; I screwed up and voted for one D running unopposed...

Nunya...

It was definitely a busy ~20 hours, but we finally got out of the office around midnight.  Now we’ll start working on getting it certified before packing it all up and beginning prep for the next one.