What parts of Missouri voted for and against Kansas City police funding? See the map
Missourians narrowly voted Tuesday to increase the amount Kansas City will be required to spend on the police.
Amendment 4 passed with 51.18% of voters statewide supporting the bill, according to the Missouri Secretary of State’s unofficial results. The move will require Kansas City to spend at least 25% of its general revenue on the police department.
The amendment was first presented to voters in November 2022. At that time, it passed by a much wider margin among Missouri voters, with more than 63% approving the measure.
The Missouri Supreme Court tossed those results in April after finding that voters were misled by the ballot’s language.
In both elections, the amendment faced criticism from local officials who argued voters across the state shouldn’t decide how a municipality makes public safety decisions.
Here’s how the vote broke down in Kansas City and across the state.
How did Missouri counties vote on the amendment Tuesday?
More counties in Missouri voted against Amendment 4 this time. In comparison to 2022, every county in Missouri voted to increase KCPD’s funding, except for the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City.
This year, voters in the Kansas City portion of Jackson County voted against Amendment 4 by 66%, according to the secretary of state office. Voters said no by 61% in 2022.
Voter turnout in Kansas City was at 19% for the August election, according to the Kansas City Election Board. That’s half of the percentage of registered voters that went to the polls in November 2022, when the election board reported a voter turnout of 38%. November general elections usually see a higher turnout than August primary elections.
The Kansas City suburbs were generally more in favor of the amendment than the city itself. This year, 57% of Jackson County voters outside the limits of Kansas City voted for the amendment. Clay County voters said yes to Amendment 4 by 61%. So did Platte County voters, who voted yes by 58%.
The City of St. Louis, plus Shannon and Douglas counties, saw the largest percentage of no votes with 60%. Cass County had the largest percentage of yes voters with 64%. Lafayette County followed with 63% of voters in favor of the amendment, and Ray County saw 62% of voters say yes.
St. Charles County voted yes by 54%. Greene County, where Springfield is, also voted yes by 52%. St. Louis County narrowly voted against the amendment, with no votes garnering 51%. Boone County, where Columbia is located, voted no by 55%.
Just over 1 million Missourians voted on Amendment 4, according to the secretary of state’s tally.
