Ezel / AG Opinions / MO
MO Opinion No. 277-2019 2019-12-17

Did the Missouri AG approve the summary statement for the Sedey AVR-only initiative version 10 (2020-138) under § 116.334?

Short answer: Yes. The AG approved the legal content and form of the proposed summary statement under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334. The approval is procedural, not an endorsement of the initiative.
Currency note: this opinion is from 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.
Disclaimer: This is an official Missouri Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Missouri attorney for advice on your specific situation.

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 10, 2020-138) submitted by Mary Anne Sedey to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Version 10 was the second AVR-only variant, addressing automatic voter registration through Department of Revenue driver and nondriver license records.

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 the last 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 initiative. Version 10, like version 9, addressed automatic voter registration alone, without the absentee-voting changes that appeared in versions 5, 6, and 7.

The Secretary of State's summary statement asked voters whether they wanted 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."

The AG approved the summary statement under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 and reiterated that the approval is statutorily mandated and not an endorsement of the petition.

Common questions

Q: Why file two near-identical AVR-only versions (9 and 10)?

Initiative sponsors often file multiple textual variants so they can choose which one to circulate after seeing how the summary statements read. Two versions can also let sponsors test minor drafting differences in the underlying petition language even when the AG-approved summary statements come back essentially identical.

Q: Did any Sedey version make it onto the Missouri ballot?

Tracking specific qualification status would require checking Missouri Secretary of State records. The AG's § 116.334 approval is one step in the multi-step initiative qualification process; signature gathering and verification follow.

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.

Background and statutory framework

See companion Op. 272-2019 for the broader framework on § 116.334 review and the Sedey initiative series.

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.

Citations

  • Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 (AG summary statement review)
  • Mo. Const. art. VIII (elections)
  • Companion opinions: 272-2019, 273-2019, 274-2019, 276-2019

Source

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. 277-2019
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 10 (2020-138). 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?

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-2019-0311