Missouri § 116.332 - Petitions for constitutional amendments, statutory initiative or referendum, requirements, procedure.

§ 116.332. Petitions for constitutional amendments, statutory initiative or referendum, requirements, procedure.

1.  Before a constitutional amendment petition, a statutory initiative petition, or a referendum petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample sheet must be submitted to the secretary of state in the form in which it will be circulated.  When a person submits a sample sheet of a petition he or she shall designate to the secretary of state the name and address of the person to whom any notices shall be sent pursuant to sections 116.140 and 116.180 and, if a committee or person, except the individual submitting the sample sheet, is funding any portion of the drafting or submitting of the sample sheet, the person submitting the sample sheet shall submit a copy of the filed statement of committee organization required under subsection 5 of section 130.021 showing the date the statement was filed.  The secretary of state shall refer a copy of the petition sheet to the attorney general for his approval and to the state auditor for purposes of preparing a fiscal note and fiscal note summary.  The secretary of state and attorney general must each review the petition for sufficiency as to form and approve or reject the form of the petition, stating the reasons for rejection, if any.

2.  Within two business days of receipt of any such sample sheet, the office of the secretary of state shall conspicuously post on its website the text of the proposed measure, a disclaimer stating that such text may not constitute the full and correct text as required under section 116.050, and the name of the person or organization submitting the sample sheet.  The secretary of state's failure to comply with such posting shall be considered a violation of chapter 610 and subject to the penalties provided under subsection 3 of section 610.027.  The posting shall be removed within three days of either the withdrawal of the petition under section 116.115 or the rejection for any reason of the petition.

3.  Upon receipt of a petition from the office of the secretary of state, the attorney general shall examine the petition as to form.  If the petition is rejected as to form, the attorney general shall forward his or her comments to the secretary of state within ten days after receipt of the petition by the attorney general.  If the petition is approved as to form, the attorney general shall forward his or her approval as to form to the secretary of state within ten days after receipt of the petition by the attorney general.

4.  The secretary of state shall review the comments and statements of the attorney general as to form and make a final decision as to the approval or rejection of the form of the petition.  The secretary of state shall send written notice to the person who submitted the petition sheet of the approval within fifteen days after submission of the petition sheet.  The secretary of state shall send written notice if the petition has been rejected, together with reasons for rejection, within fifteen days after submission of the petition sheet.

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(L. 1985 H.B. 543 § 1, A.L. 1997 S.B. 132, A.L. 2013 H.B. 117)

Effective 11-04-14

(1991) That part of this section which limits submission to secretary of state of sample petitions to one year prior to the final date for filing signed petitions shortens time authorized by constitution, art. XII, sec. 2(b), during which constitutional amendment petitions may be circulated for signatures and is invalid. State of Mo., ex rel.  Upchurch v. Blunt, 810 S.W.2d 515 (Mo. banc).

---- end of effective  04 Nov 2014 ----

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