What did the Missouri AG approve as the on-the-ballot fair ballot language for the 2020 legislative redistricting and lobbyist-gift amendment (SJR 38, later Amendment 3)?

Plain-English summary

This is the companion opinion to 15-2020. Both were issued the same day on the same legislative referral, Senate Substitute No. 3 for Senate Joint Resolution No. 38. The 15-2020 opinion approved the State Auditor's fiscal note summary. This opinion (16-2020) approves the Secretary of State's separate fair ballot language statement under § 116.025, RSMo.

The fair ballot language statement is the longer plain-English explanation that appears with sample ballots and is posted in polling places, telling voters what a "yes" vote and a "no" vote actually do. For SS#3 SJR 38, the statement covered three substantive changes: a $100-per-election cut to senate campaign contribution limits, a complete ban on gifts of any value from lobbyists and their clients to legislators and their employees, and a switch from the Clean Missouri nonpartisan-demographer redistricting model to a 20-member bipartisan commission appointed by the Governor from major-party state-committee nominations. AG Eric Schmitt approved the legal content and form of that statement.

The measure went on the November 2020 ballot as Amendment 3 and was approved by voters.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

When the General Assembly refers a constitutional amendment to the ballot, the Secretary of State drafts a fair ballot language statement under § 116.025, RSMo. The Attorney General reviews that draft for legal content and form, then either approves it or returns it for revision. The AG does not draft the statement and does not weigh in on whether the underlying amendment is good policy.

The political context here matters. In 2018, Missouri voters approved Amendment 1 (the "Clean Missouri" amendment), which created a non-partisan state demographer to draw legislative districts. The General Assembly then referred SJR 38 to the 2020 ballot to undo that piece of Clean Missouri before it ever ran a redistricting cycle, replacing the state demographer with a bipartisan commission. The fair ballot language reviewed here therefore had real political stakes: how it described the redistricting change was contested, and the description on the ballot would shape voter understanding.

What the fair ballot language told voters

Per the language the AG approved, a "yes" vote on SS#3 SJR 38 would amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• reduce the limits on campaign contributions that state senate candidates can accept from individuals or entities by $100 per election (no change for state representative candidates)
• prohibit state legislators and their employees from accepting a gift "of any value" from paid lobbyists or the lobbyists' clients (down from a then-existing $5 ceiling)
• modify the criteria for redrawing legislative districts and change the redistricting process by giving redistricting responsibility to a bipartisan commission, renaming the body, and increasing membership to 20 by adding four commissioners appointed by the Governor from nominations by the two major political parties' state committees

A "no" vote left the existing constitution unchanged on those points. The AG-approved language also stated the measure would have no impact on taxes if passed.

Common questions

Why is this called a "fair ballot language statement" and not just a "ballot title"?
Missouri law uses several distinct documents for any ballot measure. The ballot title is the short yes/no question. The summary statement (for citizen initiatives) and the fair ballot language statement (for both initiatives and referrals) are the longer plain-English explanations that go with sample ballots and polling-place postings. Section 116.025, RSMo, specifically governs the fair ballot language piece.

Did the AG decide whether the description of the redistricting change was fair?
Only in the narrow legal-content-and-form sense. Schmitt approved that the Secretary of State's draft was legally adequate. Critics of SJR 38 challenged whether the wording fairly described the substitution of a bipartisan commission for the Clean Missouri demographer; that fairness fight is a separate § 116.190 challenge in court, not part of the AG's § 116.025 review.

Did Missouri voters know they were undoing parts of Clean Missouri when they voted on Amendment 3?
The fair ballot language reviewed here did not say "this repeals Clean Missouri" in those words. It described the new bipartisan-commission structure as a change to the redistricting process. Whether that adequately put voters on notice of the repeal effect was contested at the time and is a question the AG's procedural review here did not resolve.

What was the connection between this opinion and 15-2020?
Both opinions were issued June 26, 2020, on the same legislative referral. Opinion 15-2020 approved the State Auditor's fiscal note summary under § 116.175.4, RSMo. This opinion (16-2020) approved the Secretary of State's fair ballot language statement under § 116.025, RSMo. They cover different documents on the same ballot measure.

Citations

• Section 116.025, RSMo, governing AG review of fair ballot language statements
• Companion opinion 15-2020 on the same measure (fiscal note summary)

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/16-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
Eric SCHMITT

June 26, 2020

OPINION LETTER NO. 16-2020

The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Secretary Ashcroft:

This opinion letter responds to your request dated June 16, 2020, for our review under § 116.025, RSMo, of a proposed fair ballot language statement for Senate Substitute No. 3 for Senate Joint Resolution No. 38. The proposed fair ballot language statement is as follows:

A "yes" vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to reduce the limits on campaign contributions that candidates for state senator can accept from individuals or entities by $100 per election. There is no change for candidates for state representative.

The amendment prohibits state legislators and their employees from accepting a gift of any value (which is currently $5) from paid lobbyists or the lobbyists' clients.

The amendment modifies the criteria for redrawing legislative districts and changes the process for redrawing state legislative district boundaries during redistricting by giving redistricting responsibility to a bipartisan commission, renames them, and increases membership to 20 by adding four commissioners appointed by the Governor from nominations by the two major political party's state committees.

A "no" vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding campaign contributions, lobbyist gifts, and the process and criteria for redistricting.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

Pursuant to § 116.025, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed fair ballot language statement.

Because our review of the fair ballot language statement is mandated by statute, no action we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the joint resolution, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents.

Very truly yours,

ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General

Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3323
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov