Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 Article VIII voting-access initiative petition (version 2, file 2020-106)?
Plain-English summary
Mary Anne Sedey filed eight parallel initiative petitions in September 2019 (numbers 2020-105 through 2020-112) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution (suffrage and elections) with a package of voting-access reforms. The petitions all share three baseline elements: automatic voter registration from state agency lists, permanent vote-by-mail signup with mail voting in the six weeks before each election, and in-person voting the weekend before elections.
The eight versions test combinations of three optional add-ons: pre-registering 16-17 year olds, requiring publication of a list of voters by method (mail/in-person/military), and including the Department of Corrections among the agencies whose lists feed automatic registration. Petition 2020-106 is version 2 (includes 16-17 pre-registration. no list publication requirement. includes Department of Corrections among registration sources.).
After the Secretary of State drafted a summary statement (the ballot question voters would see), the AG reviewed its legal content and form under § 116.334 RSMo. AG Schmitt's letter here approves the summary for version 2.
The AG's role is narrow: a legal-form check on the ballot summary. It is not a policy endorsement, not a constitutionality assessment, and not a vouching for the petition's substance.
This September 2019 cluster predates Sedey's larger November 2019 cluster (the same proponent later filed eleven additional Article VIII variants, see opinions 235-2019 through 245-2019 plus the fiscal-note opinions 253-2019 through 256-2019).
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:
- establish automatic voter registration of adults from state agency lists (including the departments of revenue, social services, corrections and conservation);
- allow voters to sign up to permanently vote by mail, with voting by mail allowed during the six weeks before each election;
- give 16 and 17 year olds an opportunity to pre-register to vote; and
- allow in-person voting the weekend before an election?
Common questions
Q: What does Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution cover?
A: Suffrage and elections. It establishes voter qualifications, the secret ballot, election administration, recall, the initiative, and the referendum. Any amendment to Article VIII reworks how Missourians vote or how elections are administered.
Q: How does version 2 differ from the other Sedey September 2019 versions?
A: Version 2 includes 16-17 pre-registration. no list publication requirement. includes department of corrections among registration sources. The eight versions explore the 2x2x2 combinations of the three policy toggles (teen pre-registration, voter-method list publication, and inclusion of the Department of Corrections in registration sources). Filing all eight lets proponents pick whichever survives summary-litigation challenges.
Q: What does "automatic voter registration" mean here?
A: When an adult interacts with a participating state agency (DMV, social services, etc.), they would be enrolled to vote unless they decline. Several states have adopted similar systems. In Missouri, this would be a constitutional baseline rather than statute, harder for the General Assembly to undo.
Q: Why six weeks of mail voting?
A: The petition does not say. Missouri's existing absentee-by-mail rules require an excuse and have a shorter window. Six weeks would give Missouri one of the longer mail-voting windows in the country, comparable to Oregon and Washington's permanent vote-by-mail systems.
Q: Did this petition reach the ballot?
A: The opinion does not say. None of the September 2019 Sedey versions appears to have advanced to the 2020 ballot. The proponent then refiled in November 2019 with the larger eleven-version cluster.
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 (sufficiency-as-to-form); § 116.190 RSMo (judicial challenges to summary).
Constitutional provisions referenced: Mo. Const. art. VIII (suffrage and elections); art. III § 50 (initiative).
Sister Sedey Article VIII summary-statement opinions in this September 2019 cluster: 197-2019 (version 3, 2020-107), 198-2019 (version 4, 2020-108), 199-2019 (version 5, 2020-109), 200-2019 (version 6, 2020-110), 201-2019 (version 7, 2020-111), 202-2019 (version 8, 2020-112).
Larger November 2019 Sedey Article VIII cluster (different policy substance): form-review opinions 235-2019 through 245-2019; fiscal-note opinions 253-2019 through 256-2019.
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/196-2019.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
September 19, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 196-2019
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 September 9, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Mary Anne Sedey regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution, version 2 (2020-106). The proposed summary statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- establish automatic voter registration of adults from state agency lists (including the departments of revenue, social services, corrections and conservation);
- allow voters to sign up to permanently vote by mail, with voting by mail allowed during the six weeks before each election;
- give 16 and 17 year olds an opportunity to pre-register to vote; and
- allow in-person voting the weekend before an election?
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-2019-0226