July 8, 2026, is the last day for Missouri residents to register to vote in time for the primary election on August 4, 2026. If you aren’t registered to vote, applications sent to your local election authority must be postmarked by July 8 or earlier if you want to cast a vote on August 4.

In the primary election, Missouri voters will choose their candidates for the November 3 races. Voters will also decide on questions and constitutional amendments proposed by the city of Kansas City, Jackson and Cass Counties, and the state of Missouri. Most questions pertain to taxes and issuing bond money, but others could change Kansas City’s affordable housing landscape or how legislative decisions are made across the state.

Here’s a rundown of the issues you’re likely to encounter on the August 4 ballot in the southland.

Center School District Question: Use bond money to refinance improvement, equipment leases

Residents in Jackson County’s Center School District No. 58 will be asked whether the district should use $5 million in general obligation bond funds to refinance lease obligations that were previously issued for improvements and equipment. If approved, the district’s debt service property tax levy is still estimated to decrease from $0.90 per $100 of assessed valuation of real and personal property to $0.73 per $100, in line with voters’ decision in the April 7 election. The $5 million would come out of the $29 million general obligation bond issue approved by voters in April.

Cass County Question: Impose road and bridge sales tax to eliminate property tax levy

Cass County’s primary ballot will ask voters on August 4 whether the county should eliminate its existing property tax levy for roads and bridges. If approved, Cass County would instead impose a one-fourth-of-1% sales tax on purchases in the county.

Kansas City Question 1: $100 million in bonds for affordable housing

Resident voters of Kansas City will be asked whether the city should use $100 million in general obligation bonds to invest in affordable housing for very low- to moderate-income households. If approved, money would be used for the rehabilitation, renovation and construction of houses and buildings, and removal of blight. The city currently reports a shortage of more than 64,000 housing units.

Kansas City Question 2: $100 million in bonds for convention facilities

KC primary voters will also be asked whether $100 million in general obligation bonds should be used for the improvement of old city convention facilities. If approved, money would be spent to acquire, construct, renovate, improve, equip and furnish city convention facilities and building facilities constructed before 1950. The question pertains to properties that are mostly used for administrative purposes, convention or public assembly. This includes Municipal Auditorium and the Music Hall, which opened in 1935, and City Hall, which opened in 1936.

Kansas City Question 3: Continue one-eighth-of-1% tax for Central City District

Approval of Kansas City’s Question 3 would continue the existing one-eighth-of-1% Central City Economic Development Sales Tax. Voters will decide on Aug. 4 whether to continue the sales and use tax that funds economic development projects in the Central City District. The tax may authorize retirement of some debt. The Central City District is bounded by 9th Street on the north; Gregory Boulevard on the south; The Paseo on the west; and Indiana Avenue on the east. The city reports the tax has delivered $88 million across 58 projects on Kansas City’s East Side.

Kansas City Question 4: $750 million in bonds for waterworks system

If approved, Kansas City’s Question 4 would issue $750 million in waterworks revenue bonds to rehabilitate, expand and improve the city waterworks system. This includes necessary land acquisitions and rights of way.

Kansas City Question 5: $750 million in bonds for sewer system

If approved, Kansas City’s Question 4 would issue $750 million in waterworks revenue bonds to rehabilitate, expand and improve the city’s sanitary sewer system. This includes necessary land acquisitions and rights of way.

Statewide issues on Missouri’s August 4 ballot

Constitutional Amendment 1: Continue soil and water conservation tax

If approved, Amendment 1 to the Missouri Constitution would continue the one-tenth-of-1% sales and use tax that is used to conserve soil and water at state parks and historic sites. Approval would secure another 10 years for the tax, resubmitting it to voters for approval in 2036. The soil and water conservation tax is included in the standard sales and use tax you pay at checkout. It was introduced to Missouri voters in 1984 and now appears on the ballot every 10 years.

Constitutional Amendment 2: Required election of county assessors

Amendment 2 asks voters whether Missouri should require all charter counties, including Jackson County, elect their county assessors and comply with certain training requirements. If approved, not much would change for Jackson County, because the county already chooses to elect its county assessor. Cass County, which currently has an assessor appointed by the governor, would be required to elect leaders to the position going forward. Amendment 3, involving reproductive care, will not appear on the primary ballot but rather on the November 3 general election ballot.

Constitutional Amendment 4: End ‘majority rules’ for initiative petitions

If approved, Amendment 4 would change the current ‘majority rules’ policy of Missouri initiative petitions, making it nearly impossible for citizens to put an issue before voters on the ballot. Instead of a statewide majority, a majority of voters in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts would be required to approve petitions.

Missourians have had the right to propose constitutional amendments with enough signatures on an initiative petition for more than a century. In recent years, Missourians have used initiative petitions to ask voters about marijuana, reproductive healthcare and minimum wage increases.

Constitutional Amendment 5: End income tax, increasing sales tax

Another hot-button statewide primary issue, Amendment 5 would require the Missouri legislature to phase out the individual state income tax based on revenue growth. To make up for the lost money, the amendment would also authorize the expanding sales and use taxes and curtail future attempts to place limits on those taxes. If local sales tax revenues increase as a result of the change, the amendment would require tax rate cuts without reducing school funding.