Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Winston Apple's 2019 Article III initiative petition on proportional representation for state legislators (file 2020-102)?

Plain-English summary

Winston Apple filed three parallel initiative petitions in August 2019 (2020-101, 2020-102, 2020-103) addressing different election-system reforms. Petition 2020-102 would have replaced single-member legislative districts (currently used for both House and Senate) with proportional party-list voting. Under the proposal: 160 state representatives elected statewide in batches of 20 per congressional district by party-list, state senators elected at-large statewide also by party-list, and primaries function as ranking systems within each party. This is a significant departure from Missouri's current single-member district system.

After the Secretary of State drafted a summary statement, the AG reviewed its legal content and form under § 116.334 RSMo. AG Schmitt's letter here approves the summary for petition 2020-102. The AG's role is narrow: a legal-form check on the ballot summary. It is not a policy endorsement.

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.

The exact ballot summary the AG approved

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to :

• reduce the number of state representatives from 163 to 160 (20 representing each of the eight congressional districts);
• instead of a district, state senators will represent the entire state;
• primary elections result in an ordered list of candidates for each office;
• at the general election, a voter casts a vote for one political party's ordered list of candidates;
• the proportion of votes received per political party determines the candidates elected from each party's list, in the order on the list; and
• fill vacancies with the highest-ranking unelected candidate?

Common questions

Q: What is "proportional representation"?
A: Proportional representation is an alternative to single-member districts. Voters in this system would vote for a party slate, and seats would be allocated to each party in proportion to its share of votes. This produces a legislature that mirrors statewide partisan distribution rather than aggregating district pluralities.

Q: Did this petition reach the ballot?
A: The opinion does not say. None of the Apple August 2019 petitions appears to have advanced to the 2020 ballot.

Q: How does this connect to the other Apple petitions?
A: All three Apple petitions are election-system reforms, but they target different mechanisms. 2020-101 changes how votes are tallied (RCV). 2020-102 changes how legislative seats are allocated (party-list proportional). 2020-103 changes how voter-passed statutes interact with the legislature (no repeal without voter approval). They could in principle pass together or separately.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 116 RSMo lays out the initiative-petition pipeline:

1. Proponent files the petition with the Secretary of State.
2. AG reviews sufficiency as to form under § 116.332 RSMo.
3. State Auditor prepares a fiscal note; AG reviews under § 116.175.4 RSMo.
4. Secretary of State drafts a summary statement; AG reviews under § 116.334 RSMo (this opinion).
5. Petition certified for circulation.

Citations and references

Statutes: § 116.334 RSMo (the operative provision).

Companion fiscal-note opinion on the same petition: 178-2019 (2020-102 proportional representation).

Sister Apple summary-statement opinions: 180-2019 (2020-101, ranked choice voting), 182-2019 (2020-103, initiative protection).

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/181-2019.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

August 30, 2019

OPINION LETTER NO. 181-2019

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 August 22, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Winston Apple regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article III of the Missouri Constitution (2020-102). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• reduce the number of state representatives from 163 to 160 (20 representing each of the eight congressional districts);
• instead of a district, state senators will represent the entire state;
• primary elections result in an ordered list of candidates for each office;
• at the general election, a voter casts a vote for one political party's ordered list of candidates;
• the proportion of votes received per political party determines the candidates elected from each party's list, in the order on the list; and
• fill vacancies with the highest-ranking unelected candidate?

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-2019-0210