Did the Missouri AG approve the summary statement for the Sedey AVR / no-excuse absentee / weekend in-person absentee initiative version 7 (2020-135) under § 116.334?

Subject

The Missouri AG's review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared by the Secretary of State for an initiative petition (version 7, 2020-135) submitted by Mary Anne Sedey to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Version 7 paired automatic voter registration (drawn from Department of Revenue records and other state agencies designated by the Secretary of State) with no-excuse absentee voting and in-person absentee voting on the weekend before the election.

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

This is one of five companion opinions (272-, 273-, 274-, 276-, 277-2019) issued by Attorney General Eric Schmitt on December 17, 2019, reviewing summary statements for variations of the Sedey AVR constitutional initiative.

Version 7 was the most expansive of the five. The Secretary of State's draft summary asked voters whether they wanted to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• establish automatic voter registration from Department of Revenue driver and nondriver license records, and from other state agencies if designated by the Secretary of State;
• prohibit requiring a voter to state a reason for being prevented from going to the polls on Election Day (no-excuse absentee voting); and
• allow in-person absentee voting on the weekend before an election.

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334, the AG reviews the Secretary of State's summary statement for legal content and form. The review is ministerial. The AG approved the version 7 summary and noted that the approval "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: How did version 7 differ from the other Sedey versions?

Versions 5 (272-2019) and 6 (273-2019) covered AVR through DOR records, with version 6 adding weekend in-person absentee voting. Version 7 went further by allowing the Secretary of State to designate additional state agencies as AVR sources beyond DOR. Versions 9 (276-2019) and 10 (277-2019) were narrower, covering only the DOR-based AVR component without the absentee changes.

Q: What is § 116.334 review?

Missouri's procedure for AG review of the Secretary of State's summary statement for proposed initiatives. The summary appears on petitions and on the ballot. The AG reviews legal content and form, not policy.

Q: Did the AG's approval mean version 7 became law?

No. The approval cleared the summary statement to circulate on petitions. To become law, the petition would still need to gather the constitutionally required signatures and be approved by Missouri voters at a statewide election.

Background and statutory framework

See companion Op. 272-2019 for the broader framework. The Sedey series (versions 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) tested different combinations of AVR sourcing and absentee-voting reforms. The AG approved each version's summary statement on the same day, and the differences in approved language tracked the differences in the underlying petitions.

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334. Requires AG review of the Secretary of State's summary statement for legal content and form.

Mo. Const. art. VIII. Governs Missouri elections, including voter registration and absentee voting.

Citations

• Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 (AG summary statement review)
• Mo. Const. art. VIII (elections)
• Companion opinions: 272-2019, 273-2019, 276-2019, 277-2019

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/274-2019.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. 274-2019
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 7 (2020-135). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• establish automatic voter registration from lists of eligible adults from the department of revenue based on driver and nondriver license transactions, and from certain other state agencies if designated by the secretary of state;

• 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; and

• allow in-person absentee 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-2019-0308