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+# CIVICVS Final Report
+
+**Subject:** Missouri’s proposed 2026 district-by-district majority rule for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments
+
+**Method note:** This Report presents conclusions; the full working (Claim → LLM → Context → LLM → Civic Consequence) is preserved in the **Appendix** (our complete dialogue). This aligns with CIVICVS practice: conclusions stand on the record; reasoning is transparently auditable in the transcript.
+
+---
+
+## Executive Summary
+
+Missouri has placed on the November 3, 2026 ballot a constitutional amendment that would require **citizen-initiated constitutional amendments** to win a **simple majority in each of the state’s eight congressional districts**—a **first-of-its-kind** requirement in the U.S. The measure also **bundles** several procedural provisions into the constitution (e.g., a ban on foreign-national contributions to ballot-measure campaigns, signature-fraud criminalization, mandatory public hearings, and ballot distribution of full text).
+
+**Conclusions (record-based):**
+
+1. **Complexity increases materially.** Passage conditions multiply from **one** statewide threshold to **eight** concurrent district thresholds, and procedural controls are constitutionalized rather than left to statute.
+2. **Citizen-initiated change is entrenched.** Any **citizen-initiated repeal** would itself need majorities in **all eight districts**. Legislative referral may follow different standards, creating an institutional asymmetry.
+
+These outcomes narrow citizen power and raise the bar for future change by citizens, while increasing sensitivity to whatever congressional map is in force.
+
+---
+
+## Record Snapshot (salient, verifiable)
+
+* **Novel design:** No other state requires district-by-district voter approval for initiatives; several do use percentage supermajorities, but not this geographic pass condition.
+* **What the amendment does:** Shifts unit of consent from one statewide electorate to **eight district electorates**; adds bundled provisions to the **constitution** (some already appear in statute).
+* **Legislative path:** HJR 3 passed the House **98–58** and the Senate **21–11**; recorded partisan splits are included in the source.
+* **Timing and ballot:** The measure is slated for the **Nov. 3, 2026** ballot among four statewide measures.
+* **Arguments quoted in the record:**
+
+  * Proponents: district majorities reflect “broad consensus” across equally populated districts.
+  * Opponents: applies stricter standards to citizen initiatives than to legislature-referred measures; “dilutes” citizen power.
+* **Map sensitivity:** New congressional boundaries were approved this month—relevant because district lines become dispositive under the rule.
+
+---
+
+## Findings
+
+### 1) Complexity (validated)
+
+* **Mechanism:** Success condition expands from **one** statewide majority to **eight** simultaneous district majorities—**unique** nationally.
+* **Procedural surface:** Bundled items are moved into the **constitution**, increasing the amount of higher-law text governing initiatives (and raising the cost of later administrative refinement).
+  **Finding:** The amendment increases rule complexity on its face.
+
+### 2) Entrenchment against citizen-initiated repeal (validated)
+
+* **Self-application:** The new rule governs **all citizen-initiated amendments**; therefore, a citizen-initiated **repeal** must also clear **all eight districts**.
+* **Asymmetry noted in record:** The article records objections that the stricter standard is **not** applied to legislature-referred measures, implying a different path may exist for legislative repeal.
+  **Finding:** The amendment functions as a **constitutional ratchet** on citizen-initiated change.
+
+---
+
+## Civic Consequences
+
+* **Narrowed citizen power:** Additional decision nodes (8-of-8 test) allow district geography—rather than statewide aggregate consent—to defeat citizen proposals.
+* **Locked procedures:** Constitutionalizing procedural controls reduces flexibility and elevates minor process adjustments to constitutional change processes.
+* **Map gatekeeping:** Because consent is keyed to districts, the **current map** effectively becomes a gatekeeper to constitutional change until replaced.
+
+---
+
+## Verification Plan (post-election)
+
+Upon certification of results after **November 5**, re-open the record and:
+
+1. Compare pass/fail patterns against the **8-of-8** condition;
+2. Document any reliance on the bundled constitutional provisions during the campaign or litigation;
+3. Note whether repeal pathways proposed (if any) are **citizen-initiated** or **legislature-referred**.
+
+---
+
+## Source
+
+Lara Bonatesta. *“Missouri voters to decide on 2026 measure to create a first-of-its-kind citizen initiative supermajority requirement.”*
+**Ballotpedia, Daily Brew**, 18 September 2025.
+[https://info.ballotpedia.org/dm?id=34D56BF65BDE86C99102C4F577E443A96E43630501AD63A4](https://info.ballotpedia.org/dm?id=34D56BF65BDE86C99102C4F577E443A96E43630501AD63A4)
+(Local copy preserved as `DailyBrew__Missouri_Supermajority_2026.pdf`).
+*Accessed 18 September 2025, 11:15 AM (CDT).*
+
+---
+
+**Appendix:** Full dialogue (Claim → LLM → Context → LLM → Civic Consequence), to be published alongside the Report as the auditable transcript.