Editing Missouri (section)

==Government and politics==
{{Main|Government of Missouri|List of governors of Missouri}}
{{Missouri Government}}
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The Constitution of Missouri, the fourth constitution for the state, was adopted in 1945. It provides for three branches of government: the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The legislative branch consists of two bodies: the [[Missouri House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[Missouri Senate|Senate]]. These bodies comprise the [[Missouri General Assembly]].

The House of Representatives has 163 members apportioned based on the last [[United States Census|decennial census]]. The Senate consists of 34 members from districts of approximately equal populations. The judicial department comprises the [[Supreme Court of Missouri]], which has seven judges, the [[Missouri Court of Appeals]] (an intermediate [[appellate court]] divided into three districts), sitting in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield, and 45 Circuit Courts which function as local trial courts. The executive branch is headed by the [[List of Governors of Missouri|Governor of Missouri]] and includes five other statewide elected offices. Following the departure from office of State Auditor [[Nicole Galloway]] on January 9, 2023, there are no Democrats holding statewide elected positions in Missouri.<ref>[https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2023-01-09/scott-fitzpatrick-sworn-in-as-missouri-auditor-vows-to-monitor-school-spending "Scott Fitzpatrick sworn in as Missouri Auditor, vows to monitor school spending"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110135817/https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2023-01-09/scott-fitzpatrick-sworn-in-as-missouri-auditor-vows-to-monitor-school-spending |date=January 10, 2023 }}, [[KCUR]], January 9, 2023</ref>

[[Harry S Truman]] (1884–1972), the 33rd President of the United States (Democrat, 1945–1953), was born in [[Lamar, Missouri|Lamar]]. He was a judge in [[Jackson County, Missouri|Jackson County]] and then [[List of United States Senators from Missouri|represented the state]] in the [[United States Senate]] for ten years, before being elected vice-president in [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]]. He lived in Independence after retiring as president in 1953.

In a 2020 study, Missouri was ranked as 48th on the [[Cost of Voting Index]] with only Texas and Georgia ranking higher.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=J. Pomante II |first1=Michael |last2=Li |first2=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=December 15, 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Missouri retains the [[death penalty]]. Authorized methods of execution include the [[gas chamber]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/methods-of-execution | title=Methods of Execution | access-date=March 20, 2023 | archive-date=July 1, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701043600/https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Abortion in Missouri]] is legal as a result of [[2024 Missouri Amendment 3]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/abortion-is-again-legal-in-missouri-but-availability-hinges-on-judges-ruling/article_97f86670-b367-11ef-af47-47a4a088fdd8.html|title=Abortion is again legal in Missouri, but availability hinges on judge's ruling|date=December 6, 2024|first1=Anna|last1=Spoerre|website=Columbia Missourian}}</ref>

===Former status as a political bellwether===
{{Main|Missouri bellwether}}
{{further|Political party strength in Missouri}}
[[File:Missouri Presidential Election Results 2024.svg|thumb|2024 United States presidential election results by county {{leftlegend|#4389E3|Democratic}}{{leftlegend|#AA0000|Republican}}]]

Prior to 2008, Missouri had been widely regarded as a bellwether in American politics, often making it a [[swing state]]. The state had a longer stretch of supporting the winning presidential candidate than any other state, having voted for the winning candidate in every election from 1904 to 2004 with a single exception: [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]] when Democratic candidate [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] of neighboring Illinois lost the election despite carrying Missouri. However, since 2000, Missouri has always voted for the Republican Presidential candidate, with the last Democrat winning the state being [[1996 United States presidential election in Missouri|Bill Clinton in 1996]]. Missouri voted for [[John McCain]] and [[Mitt Romney]] over Democrat [[Barack Obama]] of neighboring Illinois, despite Obama being elected to the Presidency in both 2008 and 2012. Missouri voted for [[Mitt Romney]] by nearly 10% in 2012 and voted for [[Donald Trump]] by over 18% in 2016 and 2024, and 15% in 2020.

On October 24, 2012, there were 4,190,936 registered voters.<ref name="registered">{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/registeredvoters.asp?rvmID=0012 |title=Registered Voters in Missouri 2012 |publisher=Missouri Secretary of State |date=October 24, 2012 |access-date=October 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025023240/http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/registeredvoters.asp?rvmID=0012 |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the state level, both Democratic Senator [[Claire McCaskill]] and Democratic Governor [[Jay Nixon]] were re-elected.

On November 3, 2020, there were 4,318,758 registered voters, with 3,026,028 voting (70.1%).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/ElectionResultStatistics/Nov2020OfficialVoterTurnout.pdf |title=Voter Turnout Report: 2020 General Election |publisher=Missouri Secretary of State |date=December 8, 2020 |access-date=June 14, 2021 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  By this time, the state had favored more Republican candidates for federal offices.  The offices held by Democratic party officials a decade before were subsequently held by Republican Senator [[Josh Hawley]] and Republican Governor [[Mike Parson]].

Missouri's accuracy rate for the last 29 presidential elections is now 89.66%. This percentage is on par with that of Ohio, which has voted for the winner of every presidential election since 1896, except in [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]], [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]] and [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]]. 

===Alcohol and tobacco laws===
{{Main|Alcohol laws of Missouri|List of smoking bans in the United States#Missouri}}

Missouri has been known for its population's generally "stalwart, conservative, noncredulous" attitude toward regulatory regimes, which is one of the origins of the state's unofficial nickname, the "Show-Me State".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/slogan.asp |title=Missouri Secretary of State—State Archives—Origin of "Show Me" slogan |publisher=Sos.mo.gov |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724211551/http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/slogan.asp |archive-date=July 24, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, and combined with the fact that Missouri is one of America's leading alcohol states, regulation of alcohol and tobacco in Missouri is among the most [[laissez-faire]] in America. In 2013, the [[Mercatus Center]] ranked Missouri third for alcohol freedom and first for tobacco freedom.<ref name=gmufreedom>{{cite web |url=http://freedominthe50states.org/overall/missouri |title=''Freedom in the 50 States-Missouri'' |author=Mercatus Center |date=March 28, 2013 |website=Freedom in the 50 States |publisher=[[George Mason University]] |access-date=March 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407162026/http://freedominthe50states.org/overall/missouri |archive-date=April 7, 2013 |url-status=live |author-link=Mercatus Center }}</ref> The state's alcohol laws are notably lax, with no blue laws, low taxes, and broad access to alcohol in locations like drugstores and gas stations. Additionally, Missouri's tobacco laws are equally permissive, including the lowest cigarette excise tax in the nation.<ref name=gmufreedom /> Missouri law makes it "an improper employment practice" for an employer to refuse to hire, to fire, or otherwise to disadvantage any person because that person lawfully uses alcohol or tobacco products outside of work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C200-299/2900000145.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.145 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808034636/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C200-299/2900000145.HTM |archive-date=August 8, 2010 }}</ref> 

With a large German immigrant population and the development of a brewing industry, Missouri always has had among the most permissive [[alcohol laws of the United States by state|alcohol laws in the United States]]. It has never enacted statewide [[prohibition in the United States|prohibition]]. Missouri has no statewide [[United States open container laws|open container law]] or prohibition on [[drinking in public]], no alcohol-related [[blue law]]s, no [[local option]], no precise locations for selling liquor by the package (allowing even [[drug store]]s and [[filling station]]s to sell any kind of liquor), and no differentiation of laws based on alcohol percentage. State law protects persons from arrest or criminal penalty for [[public intoxication]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0670000305.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 67.305 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701093303/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C000-099/0670000305.HTM |archive-date=July 1, 2010 }}</ref>

Missouri law expressly prohibits any jurisdiction from going [[dry county|dry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000170.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.170 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830160839/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000170.HTM |archive-date=August 30, 2010 }}</ref> Missouri law also expressly allows parents and guardians to serve alcohol to their children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000310.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.310 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527124105/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000310.HTM |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref> The [[Power & Light District]] in Kansas City is one of the few places in the United States where a state law explicitly allows persons over 21 to possess and consume open containers of alcohol in the street (as long as the beverage is in a plastic cup).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000086.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.086 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829203656/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3110000086.HTM |archive-date=August 29, 2010 }}</ref>

Missouri had the lowest cigarette excise taxes in the United States in 2016, at 17 cents per pack,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf |title=State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates |access-date=November 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004215627/http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf |archive-date=October 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the state electorate voted in 2002, 2006, 2012, and twice in 2016 to keep it that way.<ref>"A burning issue", ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', November 12, 2006</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-keeps-tobacco-tax-as-the-lowest-in-the-nation/article_636bb3bb-4634-5eea-adf7-51f16cc0b333.html|title=Missouri keeps tobacco tax as the lowest in the nation|first=Tim|last=O'Neil|website=stltoday.com|date=November 6, 2012 |access-date=February 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713143016/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-keeps-tobacco-tax-as-the-lowest-in-the-nation/article_636bb3bb-4634-5eea-adf7-51f16cc0b333.html|archive-date=July 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], in 2008 Missouri had the fourth highest percentage of adult smokers among U.S. states, at 24.5%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/list.asp?cat=TU&yr=2008&qkey=4396&state=All |title=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System—Adults who are current smokers", September 19, 2008 |publisher=Apps.nccd.cdc.gov |date=May 15, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310192932/http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/list.asp?cat=TU&yr=2008&qkey=4396&state=All |archive-date=March 10, 2010 }}</ref> Although federal law prohibits the sale of tobacco to persons under 21, tobacco products can be distributed to persons under 21 by family members on private property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C400-499/4070000931.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 407.931.3 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815012627/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C400-499/4070000931.HTM |archive-date=August 15, 2010 }}</ref>

No statewide [[smoking ban]] ever has been seriously entertained before the [[Missouri General Assembly]], and in October 2008, a statewide survey by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services found that only 27.5% of Missourians support a statewide ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dhss.mo.gov/County_level_study/header.php?cnty=929&profile_type=2&chkBox=C |title=Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, ''County Level Survey 2007: Secondhand Smoke for Missouri Adults'', October 1, 2008 |publisher=Dhss.mo.gov |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216141745/http://www.dhss.mo.gov/County_level_study/header.php?cnty=929&profile_type=2&chkBox=C |archive-date=December 16, 2008 }}</ref> Missouri state law permits restaurants seating less than 50 people, bars, bowling alleys, and billiard parlors to decide their own smoking policies, without limitation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moga.mo.gov/statutes/C100-199/1910000769.HTM |title=Mo. Rev. Stat. § 191.769 |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=August 28, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210110244/http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C100-199/1910000769.HTM |archive-date=December 10, 2011 }}</ref>

===Cannabis laws===
{{See also|Cannabis in Missouri}}

In 2014, a Republican-led legislature and Democratic governor [[Jay Nixon]] enacted a series of laws to partially decriminalize possession of cannabis by making first-time possession of up to 10 grams no longer punishable with jail time and legalizing [[Cannabidiol|CBD]] oil. In November 2018, [[Cannabis in Missouri|66% of voters approved]] a constitutional amendment that established a right to medical marijuana and a system for licensing, regulating, and taxing medical marijuana.