Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Winston Apple's 2019 Article VIII initiative petition on ranked-choice voting for federal and statewide offices (file 2020-101)?
Plain-English summary
Winston Apple filed three parallel initiative petitions in August 2019 (2020-101, 2020-102, 2020-103) addressing different election-system reforms. Petition 2020-101 would have introduced ranked-choice voting (RCV) for general elections to seven federal and statewide offices: U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Auditor. Voters would rank candidates; the lowest-ranked candidate's votes redistribute until someone clears 50%+1. Ties resolve randomly. This would have made Missouri an early RCV-state for federal/statewide races, alongside Maine and Alaska.
After the Secretary of State drafted a summary statement, the AG reviewed its legal content and form under § 116.334 RSMo. AG Schmitt's letter here approves the summary for petition 2020-101. The AG's role is narrow: a legal-form check on the ballot summary. It is not a policy endorsement.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2019. 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.
The exact ballot summary the AG approved
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to :
- change voting in general elections for the offices of United States Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Auditor to allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference for each office;
- eliminate the lowest ranked candidates and redistribute their votes based on number of votes and voters' rankings until a candidate receives at least 50% plus one vote to win; and
- resolve ties with a random mathematical process?
Common questions
Q: What is "ranked choice voting"?
A: Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a system where voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets a majority of first-preference votes, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to those voters second choices. The process repeats until one candidate clears 50%+1.
Q: Did this petition reach the ballot?
A: The opinion does not say. None of the Apple August 2019 petitions appears to have advanced to the 2020 ballot.
Q: How does this connect to the other Apple petitions?
A: All three Apple petitions are election-system reforms, but they target different mechanisms. 2020-101 changes how votes are tallied (RCV). 2020-102 changes how legislative seats are allocated (party-list proportional). 2020-103 changes how voter-passed statutes interact with the legislature (no repeal without voter approval). They could in principle pass together or separately.
Q: Who can challenge the summary statement?
A: § 116.190 RSMo lets any registered voter challenge the official ballot summary as "insufficient or unfair" by filing suit in Cole County circuit court within ten days of certification.
Background and statutory framework
Chapter 116 RSMo lays out the initiative-petition pipeline:
- Proponent files the petition with the Secretary of State.
- AG reviews sufficiency as to form under § 116.332 RSMo.
- State Auditor prepares a fiscal note; AG reviews under § 116.175.4 RSMo.
- Secretary of State drafts a summary statement; AG reviews under § 116.334 RSMo (this opinion).
- Petition certified for circulation.
Citations and references
Statutes: § 116.334 RSMo (the operative provision); § 116.175 RSMo (fiscal-note pipeline); § 116.332 RSMo; § 116.190 RSMo (judicial challenges).
Companion fiscal-note opinion on the same petition: {"180": "177-2019 (2020-101 ranked-choice voting)", "181": "178-2019 (2020-102 proportional representation)", "182": "179-2019 (2020-103 initiative protection)"}["180"].
Sister Apple summary-statement opinions: 181-2019 (2020-102, proportional representation), 182-2019 (2020-103, initiative protection).
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/180-2019.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
August 30, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 180-2019
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 August 22, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Winston Apple regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution (2020-101). The proposed summary statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- change voting in general elections for the offices of United States Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Auditor to allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference for each office;
- eliminate the lowest ranked candidates and redistribute their votes based on number of votes and voters' rankings until a candidate receives at least 50% plus one vote to win; and
- resolve ties with a random mathematical process?
Pursuant to § 116.334, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. Because our review of the statement is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition, 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) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov
OP-2019-0209