Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Damien Johnson's Article III petition 2020-030 on initiative-process reforms?

Plain-English summary

Damien Johnson's initiative petition 2020-030, a sister-version of petition 20-032, proposed to amend Article III of the Missouri Constitution with a five-part package of initiative-process reforms. The Secretary of State drafted a summary statement (the voter-facing question that would appear on the ballot) and sent it to the AG for review under § 116.334, RSMo. This opinion is the AG's approval of the summary statement.

The summary statement asked voters whether to (1) prohibit any changes to election laws without voter approval, (2) prohibit filing fees on initiative petitions, (3) drop the requirement that petition circulators be Missouri residents or registered voters, (4) allow signature gatherers to be compensated on a per-signature, per-hour, or other agreed basis, and (5) require the Secretary of State's office to operate a web-based system for electronic petition signatures.

The AG approved the form of the statement, including the bullet-list formatting. The opinion is the standard mandatory § 116.334 review and does not endorse the petition.

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.

Common questions

Why is there both a "20-032" and a "2020-030" Johnson petition?

Missouri's initiative numbering uses sequential identifiers assigned by the Secretary of State for each election cycle, with multiple versions of similar proposals receiving separate numbers. Johnson appears to have filed several iterations of his package; 2020-030 and 20-032 are two of them. The companion fiscal note for the bundle is at Op. 45-2019, and the parallel summary statement for 2020-032 is at Op. 50-2019.

What does "voter approval for any change to election laws" mean?

The proposal would have constitutionally locked in the existing election-law framework, requiring statewide voter approval (or potentially legislative referral and voter approval) before any change. That would have constrained the Legislature's ordinary statutory authority over election administration.

Why would circulator residency and registration requirements be a target for amendment?

Missouri had limited petition circulators to Missouri residents who were also registered voters. Critics argued the rule was constitutionally suspect under First Amendment circulator-protection cases like Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation, 525 U.S. 182 (1999). Johnson's proposal would have removed the restriction at the constitutional level.

Is the AG endorsing the proposal by approving the summary statement?

No. § 116.334 review is content-and-form only. The opinion's standard disclaimer applies.

Did this petition reach the ballot?

Form approval and summary review are the first administrative steps; reaching the ballot depends on signature collection, deadlines, and any court challenges. The AG's review does not by itself put a petition on the ballot.

Background and statutory framework

Missouri's initiative process runs through Chapter 116. § 116.334 directs the AG to review the summary statement the Secretary of State drafts for each initiative petition. Companion reviews cover the fiscal note summary and the petition form. The substantive amendment was directed at Article III, with practical effect on the election law framework in Title IX of the Revised Statutes.

Citations

• § 116.334, RSMo (AG review of summary statement)
• Mo. Const. art. III (Legislative Department)
• Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 49 to 53 (initiative and referendum process)
• Initiative Petition 2020-030 (Johnson, Article III initiative-process reforms)
• Op. Mo. Att'y Gen. 45-2019 (Johnson 20-032 fiscal note summary approval)
• Op. Mo. Att'y Gen. 50-2019 (Johnson 2020-032 summary statement approval)

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/47-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
JEFFERSON CITY
P.O. Box 899
ATTORNEY GENERAL
65102
(573) 751-3321

February 8, 2019

OPINION LETTER NO. 47-2019

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 January 31, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Damien Johnson regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article III of the Missouri Constitution (2020-030). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• prohibit any changes to election laws without voter approval;
• prohibit a filing fee for proposed initiative petitions;
• prohibit requiring an initiative petition circulator (signature gatherer) from being a Missouri resident or a registered voter;
• allow signature gatherers to be paid per signature, by the hour or any way agreed to; and
• require the secretary of state's office to establish and operate a web-based application that allows people to sign initiative petitions electronically?

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

OP-2019-0037