Did Missouri's Attorney General approve the summary statement for initiative petition 2024-002 on electronic signatures?

Plain-English summary

The Missouri Attorney General approved the legal content and form of the Secretary of State's proposed summary statement for initiative petition 2024-002.

The summary described a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow eligible voters to submit electronic statements of support for initiative petitions, require the Governor to maintain an electronic filing system, and require the Secretary of State to create a form and make the statements public.

The opinion limited its conclusion to the statutory summary review. It expressly said approval did not endorse the petition or express a view about the proponents' objectives.

What this means for you

Initiative-petition sponsors and voters

The AG approved the wording of the proposed summary statement for this petition. The opinion did not decide the proposal's merits.

Secretary of State and election staff

The opinion completed the Attorney General's legal-content-and-form review under § 116.334, RSMo.

Common questions

What did initiative petition 2024-002 propose?

The summary described electronic support statements, a Governor-maintained filing system, and a Secretary of State form with publicly available statements.

Did the AG endorse electronic petition signatures?

No. The opinion expressly disclaimed endorsement and any view on the proposal's objectives.

What exactly did the AG approve?

The legal content and form of the proposed summary statement.

Background and statutory framework

The Secretary of State requested review on December 11, 2024. The AG performed the review under § 116.334, RSMo.

Citations discussed

• § 116.334, RSMo, requiring Attorney General review of the proposed summary statement

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/33-2024.pdf

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ANDREW BAILEY
December 19, 2024
OPINION LETTER NO. 33-2024
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 11, 2024 for our review under § 116.334, RSMo of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Winston Apple, 2024-002. The proposed summary statement is as follows: Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• allow initiative petitions to be signed electronically with statements of support by eligible voters;
• require the governor to establish and maintain a system for electronically filing statements of support; and
• require the Secretary of State to create a form for electronic statements of support and make such statements publicly available? 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,

ANDREW BAILEY
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-2024-035