Did the Missouri AG approve the form and legal content of the proposed Secretary-of-State summary statement for the Mary Anne Sedey constitutional initiative (version 5, 2020-133) that would establish automatic voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting?
Subject
The Missouri AG's review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement that the Secretary of State prepared for an initiative petition (version 5, 2020-133) submitted by Mary Anne Sedey to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution to establish automatic voter registration through Department of Revenue records and prohibit the requirement of an excuse to vote absentee.
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.
Plain-English summary
Petitioner Mary Anne Sedey submitted a proposed constitutional initiative to amend Missouri Constitution Article VIII (the elections article) to do two things: (1) establish automatic voter registration from Department of Revenue lists of eligible adults based on driver and nondriver license transactions; and (2) prohibit requiring a voter to state a reason for being prevented from voting at the polls on Election Day (no-excuse absentee voting).
Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334, when the Secretary of State drafts a "summary statement" for a proposed ballot measure, the Attorney General must review it for legal content and form. This is a ministerial check, not a policy review.
The AG (Eric Schmitt) issued five separate opinions on the same date (December 17, 2019) approving fiscal note summary statements for five different versions of Sedey's initiative, versions 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 (codified as 2020-133, 2020-134, 2020-135, 2020-137, 2020-138). Version 5 (this opinion, 272-2019) covered the AVR-plus-no-excuse-absentee combination.
The AG approved the form and content. The approval, the AG noted, "should not be construed as an endorsement of the petition, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents."
Common questions
Q: What did the proposed initiative do?
Version 5 (2020-133) would have amended Missouri Constitution Article VIII to (a) establish automatic voter registration drawn from Department of Revenue driver/nondriver license records, and (b) eliminate the absentee-voting excuse requirement. Under existing Missouri law at the time, voters had to state a reason (out-of-town, illness, etc.) to vote absentee.
Q: Did this initiative make it to the Missouri ballot?
Various Sedey AVR initiatives circulated in 2019-2020. Tracking specific qualification for the ballot would require checking Missouri Secretary of State records. Missouri did pass other voting-related changes during this period.
Q: What is § 116.334 review?
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 requires the AG to review the Secretary of State's summary statement for proposed initiatives. The summary appears on petitions and on the ballot. Review is for legal content and form (whether the summary fairly describes the measure), not policy merits.
Q: How is this different from the AG's role with ballot titles in other states?
Different states use different procedures. Missouri's allocation of the summary-statement review to the AG is similar to Idaho's Certificate of Review process and Arkansas's ballot-title certification, but the specific authority comes from § 116.334. The AG does not draft the summary; the Secretary of State drafts it, and the AG reviews.
Background and statutory framework
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334. Requires the AG to review the Secretary of State's summary statement for legal content and form. The Secretary drafts; the AG approves or seeks revision.
Missouri Constitution Article VIII. Governs elections, including voter registration, absentee voting, and election administration.
The Sedey AVR initiative series (2019-2020). Mary Anne Sedey filed multiple versions of an AVR/absentee-voting initiative. Each version made small adjustments to the proposed constitutional language. The AG reviewed each separately and approved each. The five companion opinions (272-, 273-, 274-, 276-, 277-2019) all issued the same day with identical legal analysis but different version-specific summary text.
Citations
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 (AG summary statement review)
- Mo. Const. art. VIII (elections)
- Companion opinions: 273-2019, 274-2019, 276-2019, 277-2019 (other versions of the Sedey initiative)
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/272-2019.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
December 17, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 272-2019
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 December 5, 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 5 (2020-133). The proposed summary statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
e establish automatic voter registration from lists
of eligible adults from the department of revenue
based on driver and _ nondriver license
_ transactions; and
e change current absentee voting by prohibiting a
voter from having to state a reason for being
prevented from going to the polls to vote on
election day?
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.
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: ($73) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
WWW.ag0.1N0.gOV
OP-2019-0306
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Page 2
Very truly yours,
Pah fas
ERIC 8S. SCHMITT
Attorney General
OP-2019-0306