EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 862
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR ONDER.
4139S.01I ADRIANE D. CROUSE, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 116.030, 116.040, 116.050, 116.080, 116.090, 116.110, 116.130, 116.160,
116.230, 116.270, 116.332, and 116.334, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof thirteen
new sections relating to the petition process for amending the law, with penalty
provisions and an effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 116.030, 116.040, 116.050, 116.080, 1
116.090, 116.110, 116.130, 116.160, 116.230, 116.270, 116.332, 2
and 116.334, RSMo, are repealed and thirteen new sections 3
enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 116.030, 4
116.040, 116.045, 11 6.050, 116.080, 116.090, 116.110, 116.130, 5
116.160, 116.230, 116.270, 116.332, and 116.334, to read as 6
follows:7
116.030. The following shall be substantially the form 1
of each page of referendum petitions on any law passed by 2
the general assembly o f the state of Missouri: 3
4 County ______
5 Page No. ______
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
It is a class A misdemeanor punishable, notwithstanding
the provisions of section [560.021] 558.002, RSMo, to
the contrary, for a term of imprisonment not to exceed
one year in the county jail or a fine not to exceed ten
thousand dollars or both, for anyone to sign any
referendum petition with any name other than his or her
own, or knowingly to sign his or her name more than once
for the same measure for the same election, or to sign a
SB 862 2
14
15
petition when such person knows he or she is not a
registered voter.
16 PETITION FOR REFERENDUM
17
18
To the Honorable ______, Secretary of State for the
state of Missouri:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
We, the undersigned, registered voters of the state of
Missouri and ______ County (or City of St. Louis),
respectfully order that the Senate (or House) Bill No.
______ entitled (title of law), passed by the ______
general assembly of the state of Missouri, at the ______
regular (or special) session of the ______ general
assembly, shall be referred to the voters of the state
of Missouri, for their approval or rejection, at the
general election to be held on the ______ day of ______,
______, unless the genera l assembly shall designate
another date, and each for himself or herself says: I
have personally signed this petition; I am a registered
voter of the state of Missouri and ______ County (or
City of St. Louis); my registered voting address and the
name of the city, town or village in which I live are
correctly written after my name.
35 (Official Ballot title) ______
36 CIRCULATOR'S AFFIDAVIT
37 State Of Missouri,
38 County Of ______
39
40
I, ______, being first duly sworn, say (print or type
names of signers)
41
42
NAME DATE
SIGNED
REGISTERED
VOTING ADDRESS
ZIP
CODE
CONGR.
DIST.
NAME
43
44
(Signature) (Street)
(City,
(Printed
or
45
46
Town or
Village)
Typed)
47 (Here follow numbered lines for signers)
48
49
50
signed this page of the foregoing petition, and each of
them signed his or her name thereto in my presence; I
believe that each has stated his or her name, registered
SB 862 3
If this form is followed substantially and the requirements 76
of [section] sections 116.045, 116.050, and [section] 77
116.080 are met, it shall be sufficient, disregarding 78
clerical and merely technical errors. 79
116.040. The following shall be substantially the form 1
of each page of each petition for any law or amendment to 2
51
52
53
voting address and city, town or village correctly, and
that each signer is a registered voter of the state of
Missouri and ______ County.
54
55
56
57
58
FURTHERMORE, I HEREBY SWEAR OR AFFIRM UNDER PENALTY OF
PERJURY THAT ALL STATEMENTS MADE BY ME ARE TRUE AND
CORRECT AND THAT I HAVE NEVER BEEN CONVICTED OF, FOUND
GUILTY OF, OR PLED GU ILTY TO ANY OFFENSE INVOLVING
FORGERY.
59
60
61
I am at least 18 years of age. I do ______ do not ______
(check one) expect to be paid for circulating this
petition. If paid, list the payer ______
62 __________________
63 Signature of Affiant
64 (Person obtaining signatures)
65 __________________
66 (Printed Name of Affiant)
67 __________________
68 Address of Affiant
69
70
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of
______, A.D. ______
71 __________________
72 Signature of Notary
73 Address of Notary
74 Notary Public (Seal)
75 My commission expires ______ SB 862 4
the Constitution of the state of Missouri proposed by the 3
initiative: 4
5 County ______
6 Page No. ______
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
It is a class A misdemeanor punishable, notwithstanding
the provisions of section [560.021] 558.002, RSMo, to
the contrary, for a term of imprisonment not to exceed
one year in the county jail or a fine not to exceed ten
thousand dollars or both, for anyone to sign any
initiative petition with any name other than his or her
own, or knowingly to sign his or her name more than once
for the same measure for the same election, or to sign a
petition when such person knows he or she is not a
registered voter.
17 INITIATIVE PETITION
18
19
To the Honorable ______, Secretary of State for the
state of Missouri:
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
We, the undersigned, registered voters of the state of
Missouri and ______ County (or City of St. Louis),
respectfully order that the following proposed law (or
amendment to the constitution) shall be submitted to the
voters of the state of Missouri, for t heir approval or
rejection, at the general election to be held on the
______ day of ______, ______, and each for himself or
herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I
am a registered voter of the state of Missouri and
______ County (or City of St. Louis); my registered
voting address and the name of the city, town or village
in which I live are correctly written after my name.
33 (Official Ballot title) ______
34 CIRCULATOR'S AFFIDAVIT
35 State Of Missouri,
36 County Of ______
37
38
I, ______, being first duly sworn, say (print or type
names of signers)
SB 862 5
39
40
NAME DATE
SIGNED
REGISTERED
VOTING ADDRESS
ZIP
CODE
CONGR.
DIST.
NAME
41
42
(Signature) (Street) (City, (Printed
or
43
44
Town or
Village)
Typed)
45 (Here follow numbered lines for signers)
46
47
48
49
50
51
signed this page of the foregoing petition, and each of
them signed his or her name thereto in my presence; I
believe that each has stated his or her name, registered
voting address and city, town or village correctly, and
that each signer is a registered voter of the state of
Missouri and ______ County.
52
53
54
55
56
FURTHERMORE, I HEREBY SWEAR OR AFFIRM UNDER PENALTY OF
PERJURY THAT ALL STATEMENTS MADE BY ME ARE TRUE AND
CORRECT AND THAT I HAVE NEVER BEEN CONVICTED OF, FOUND
GUILTY OF, OR PLED GUILTY TO ANY OFFENSE INVOLVING
FORGERY.
57
58
59
I am at least 18 years of age. I do ______ do not ______
(check one) expect to be paid for circulating this
petition. If paid, list the payer ______
60 __________________
61 Signature of Affiant
62 (Person obtaining signatures)
63 __________________
64 (Printed Name of Affiant)
65 __________________
66 Address of Affiant
67
68
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of
______, A.D. ______
69 __________________
70 Signature of Notary
71 Address of Notary SB 862 6
If this form is followed substantially and the requirements 74
of [section] sections 116.045, 116.050, and [section] 75
116.080 are met, it shall be sufficient, disregarding 76
clerical and merely technical errors. 77
116.045. Initiative and referendum petition signature 1
pages shall be printed on a form as prescribed by the 2
secretary of state, which shall include all of the 3
information and statements set forth in section 116.030 or 4
116.040, as applicable, and comply with section 116.050. 5
The form shall be made available in electronic format for 6
printing and circulating petitions. 7
116.050. 1. Initiative and referendum petitions filed 1
under the provisions of this chapter shall consist of pages 2
of a uniform size. Each page, excluding the text of the 3
measure, shall be no larger than eight and one -half by 4
fourteen inches. The text of the proposed measure shall be 5
in a font that is not smaller than twelve point, Times New 6
Roman, and have a top, bottom, left, and right margin of not 7
less than one inch. Page numbers may appear in the bottom 8
margin. Each page of an initiative peti tion shall be 9
attached to or shall contain a full and correct text of the 10
proposed measure. Each page of a referendum petition shall 11
be attached to or shall contain a full and correct text of 12
the measure on which the referendum is sought. 13
2. The secretary of state shall collect an initiative 14
and referendum petition filing fee of five hundred dollars 15
for each petition sample sheet filed. An additional filing 16
fee of twenty-five dollars shall be collected for each page 17
72 Notary Public (Seal)
73 My commission expires ______ SB 862 7
of text of the measure in excess of ten pages. The filing 18
fee shall be deposited in the state treasury and credited to 19
the secretary of state's petition publications fund 20
established under section 116.270. The filing fee shall be 21
refunded from the fund to the person designat ed as the 22
recipient of notices pursuant to section 116.332 if the 23
initiative or referendum petition is certified pursuant to 24
section 116.150. The secretary of state shall reject any 25
petition sample sheet that is not accompanied by the 26
required fee. 27
3. The full and correct text of all initiative and 28
referendum petition measures shall: 29
(1) Contain all matter which is to be deleted included 30
in its proper place enclosed in brackets and all new matter 31
shown underlined; 32
(2) Include all sections of existing law or of the 33
constitution which would be repealed by the measure; and 34
(3) Otherwise conform to the provisions of [Article 35
III, Section 28 and] Article III, [Section] Sections 28, 49, 36
50, 51, and 52(a) of the Missouri Constitution and those of 37
this chapter. 38
4. The full and correct text of all initiative 39
petition measures shall not purport to: 40
(1) Declare any federal statute, regulation, executive 41
order, or court decision to be void or in violation of the 42
United States Constitution; 43
(2) Amend any federal law or the United States 44
Constitution; or 45
(3) Accomplish an act that the United States 46
Constitution requires to be accomplished by the general 47
assembly. 48 SB 862 8
116.080. 1. Each petition circulator shall be at 1
least eighteen years of age and registered with the 2
secretary of state. Signatures collected by any circulator 3
who has not registered with the secretary of state pursuant 4
to this chapter on or before 5:00 p.m. on the final day for 5
filing petitions with the secretary of state shall not be 6
counted. A petition circulator shall be deemed registered 7
at the time such circulator delivers a signed circulator's 8
affidavit pursuant to section 116.030, with respect to a 9
referendum petition, or section 116.040, with respect to an 10
initiative petition, to the office of the secretary of 11
state. No person shall qualify as a petition circulator who 12
has been convicted of, found guilty of, or pled guilty to an 13
offense involving forgery un der the laws of this state or an 14
offense under the laws of any other jurisdiction if that 15
offense would be considered forgery under the laws of this 16
state. 17
2. Each petition circulator shall subscribe and swear 18
to the proper affidavit on each peti tion page such 19
circulator submits before a notary public commissioned in 20
Missouri. When notarizing a circulator's signature, a 21
notary public shall sign his or her official signature and 22
affix his or her official seal to the affidavit only if the 23
circulator personally appears before the notary and 24
subscribes and swears to the affidavit in his or her 25
presence. 26
3. Any circulator who falsely swears to a circulator's 27
affidavit knowing it to be false is guilty of a class A 28
misdemeanor punishable, notwithstanding the provisions of 29
section [560.021] 558.002 to the contrary, for a term of 30
imprisonment not to exceed one year in the county jail or a 31
fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars or both. 32 SB 862 9
116.090. 1. Any person who commi ts any of the 1
following actions is guilty of the crime of petition 2
signature fraud: 3
(1) Signs any name other than his or her own to any 4
petition, or who knowingly signs his or her name more than 5
once for the same measure for the same election, or who 6
knows he or she is not at the time of signing or circulating 7
the same a Missouri registered voter and a resident of this 8
state; or 9
(2) Intentionally submits petition signature sheets 10
with the knowledge that the person whose name appears on t he 11
signature sheet did not actually sign the petition; or 12
(3) Causes a voter to sign a petition other than the 13
one the voter intended to sign; or 14
(4) Forges or falsifies signatures; or 15
(5) Knowingly accepts or offers money or anything o f 16
value to another person in exchange for a signature on a 17
petition. 18
2. Any person who knowingly causes a petition 19
circulator's signatures to be submitted for counting, and 20
who either knows that such circulator has violated 21
subsection 1 of this section or, after receiving notice of 22
facts indicating that such person may have violated 23
subsection 1 of this section, causes the signatures to be 24
submitted with reckless indifference as to whether such 25
circulator has complied with subsection 1 of thi s section, 26
shall also be deemed to have committed the crime of petition 27
signature fraud. 28
3. A person who violates subsection 1 or 2 of this 29
section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a 30
class A misdemeanor punishable, notwithstanding th e 31
provisions of section [560.021] 558.002 to the contrary, by 32 SB 862 10
a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year in the county 33
jail or a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars or both. 34
4. Any person employed by or serving as an election 35
authority, that has reasonable cause to suspect a person has 36
committed petition signature fraud, shall immediately report 37
or cause a report to be made to the appropriate prosecuting 38
authorities. Failure to so report or cause a report to be 39
made shall be a class A misdemeanor. 40
116.110. Any voter who has signed an initiative or 1
referendum petition may withdraw his or her signature from 2
that petition by submitting to the secretary of state, 3
before the petition is filed with the secretary of stat e, a 4
sworn statement requesting that his or her signature be 5
withdrawn and affirming the name of the petition signed, the 6
name the voter used when signing the petition, the address 7
of the voter and the county of residence. It is a class A 8
misdemeanor punishable, notwithstanding the provisions of 9
section [560.021] 558.002 to the contrary, for a term of 10
imprisonment not to exceed one year in the county jail or a 11
fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars or both, to 12
knowingly file a false withdrawal st atement with the 13
secretary of state. 14
116.130. 1. The secretary of state may send copies of 1
petition pages to election authorities to verify that the 2
persons whose names are listed as signers to the petition 3
are registered voters. Such verification may either be of 4
each signature or by random sampling as provided in section 5
116.120, as the secretary shall direct. If copies of the 6
petition pages are sent to an election authority for 7
verification, such copies shall be sent pursua nt to the 8
following schedule: 9 SB 862 11
(1) Copies of all pages from not less than one 10
petition shall be received in the office of the election 11
authority not later than two weeks after the petition is 12
filed in the office of secretary of state; 13
(2) Copies of all pages of a total of three petitions 14
shall be received in the office of the election authority 15
not later than three weeks after the petition is filed in 16
the office of the secretary of state; 17
(3) If more than three petitions are filed, a ll copies 18
of petition pages, including those petitions selected for 19
verification by random sample pursuant to section 116.120, 20
shall be received in the office of the election authority 21
not later than the fourth week after the petition is filed 22
in the office of the secretary of state. 23
Each election authority shall check the signatures against 24
voter registration records in the election authority's 25
jurisdiction, but the election authority shall count as 26
valid only the signatures of persons registered as voters in 27
the county named in the circulator's affidavit. Signatures 28
shall not be counted as valid if they have been struck 29
through or crossed out. Signatures not in black or blue ink 30
shall be counted as invalid without verification. 31
2. If the election authority is requested to verify 32
the petition by random sampling, such verification shall be 33
completed and certified not later than thirty days from the 34
date that the election authority receives the petition from 35
the secretary of state. If the election authority is to 36
verify each signature, such verification [must] shall be 37
completed, certified and delivered to the secretary of state 38
by 5:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday in July prior to the 39
election, or in the event of complete verificatio n of 40 SB 862 12
signatures after a failed random sample, full verification 41
shall be completed, certified and delivered to the secretary 42
of state by 5:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday in July or by 43
5:00 p.m. on the Friday of the fifth week after receipt of 44
the signatures by the local election authority, whichever is 45
later. 46
3. If the election authority or the secretary of state 47
determines that the congressional district number written 48
after the signature of any voter is not the congressional 49
district of which the voter is a resident, the election 50
authority or the secretary of state shall correct the 51
congressional district number on the petition page. Failure 52
of a voter to give the voter's correct congressional 53
district number shall not by itself be ground s for not 54
counting the voter's signature. 55
4. The election authority shall return the copies of 56
the petition pages to the secretary of state with 57
annotations regarding any invalid or questionable signatures 58
which the election authority has been as ked to check by the 59
secretary of state. The election authority shall verify the 60
number of pages received for that county, and also certify 61
the total number of valid signatures of voters from each 62
congressional district which the election authority has been 63
asked to check by the secretary of state. 64
5. The secretary of state is authorized to adopt rules 65
to ensure uniform, complete, and accurate checking of 66
petition signatures either by actual count or random 67
sampling. No rule or portion of a r ule promulgated pursuant 68
to this section shall become effective unless it has been 69
promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536. 70
6. After a period of three years from the time of 71
submission of the petitions to the secretary of state, the 72 SB 862 13
secretary of state, if the secretary determines that 73
retention of such petitions is no longer necessary, may 74
destroy such petitions. 75
116.160. 1. If the general assembly adopts a joint 1
resolution proposing a constitutional amendment or a bill 2
without a fiscal note summary, which is to be referred to a 3
vote of the people, after receipt of such resolution or bill 4
the secretary of state shall promptly forward the resolution 5
or bill to the state auditor. If the general assembly 6
adopts a joint resolution proposing a constitutional 7
amendment or a bill without an official summary statement, 8
which is to be referred to a vote of the people, within 9
twenty days after receipt of the resolution or bill, the 10
secretary of state shall prepa re and transmit to the 11
attorney general a summary statement of the measure as the 12
proposed summary statement. The secretary of state may seek 13
the advice of the legislator who introduced the 14
constitutional amendment or bill and the speaker of the 15
house or the president pro tem of the legislative chamber 16
that originated the measure. The summary statement may be 17
distinct from the legislative title of the proposed 18
constitutional amendment or bill. The attorney general 19
shall within ten days approve t he legal content and form of 20
the proposed statement. 21
2. The official summary statement shall contain no 22
more than one hundred fifty words[, excluding articles ]. 23
The title shall be a true and impartial statement of the 24
purposes of the proposed me asure in language neither 25
intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice 26
either for or against the proposed measure. 27
116.230. 1. The secretary of state shall prepare 1
sample ballots in the following form. 2 SB 862 14
2. The top of the ballot shall read: 3
"OFFICIAL BALLOT STATE OF MISSOURI" 4
3. When constitutional amendments are submitted, the 5
first heading shall read: 6
"CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS" 7
There shall follow the numbers assigned under section 8
116.210 the official ballot titles prepared under section 9
116.160 or 116.334, and the fiscal note summaries prepared 10
under section 116.170. Constitutional amendments proposed by 11
the general assembly shall be designated as "Proposed by the 12
general assembly". Constitutional amendments proposed by 13
initiative petition shall be designated "Proposed by 14
initiative petition". Constitutional amendments proposed by 15
constitutional convention shall be designated as "Proposed 16
by constitutional convention". 17
4. When statutory measures are submitted, the next 18
heading shall read: 19
"STATUTORY MEASURES" 20
There shall follow the letters assigned under section 21
116.220, the official ballot titles prepared under section 22
116.160 or 116.334, and the fiscal note summaries prepared 23
under section 116.170. Statutory initiative measures shall 24
be designated "Proposed by initiative petition". Referendum 25
measures shall be designated "Referendum ordered by 26
petition". 27
5. Immediately following the official ballot title, 28
the words "Shall the measure summarized be approved?" shall 29
appear with the options to vote "YES" or "NO". 30
116.270. 1. [There is hereby created a "Publications 1
Fund" which shall be used only to pay printing, publication, 2 SB 862 15
and other expenses incurre d in submitting statewide ballot 3
measures to the voters. 4
2. The secretary of state shall certify to the 5
commissioner of administration all valid claims for payment 6
from the publications fund. On receiving the certified 7
claims, the commissioner o f administration shall issue 8
warrants on the state treasurer payable to each individual 9
out of the publications fund ] There is hereby created in the 10
state treasury the "Secretary of State's Petition 11
Publications Fund", which shall consist of money coll ected 12
under section 116.050. The state treasurer shall be 13
custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 14
and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve disbursements. 15
The fund shall be a dedicated fund and money in the fund 16
shall be used solely by the secretary of state for the 17
purpose of making refunds as set forth in section 116.050 18
and to pay publication expenses incurred in submitting 19
statewide ballot measures to the voters. Any balance in the 20
fund shall be used for the purposes set forth herein before 21
using a general revenue appropriation for the same purpose. 22
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to 23
the contrary, any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of 24
the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the general 25
revenue fund. 26
3. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund 27
in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any 28
interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 29
credited to the fund . 30
116.332. 1. Before a constitutional amendment 1
petition, a statutory initiative petition, or a referendum 2
petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample sheet 3
[must] shall be submitted to the secretary of state in the 4 SB 862 16
form in which it will be circulated. Sample initiative 5
petition sheets shall be filed no earlier than twelve weeks 6
following a general election. When a person submits a 7
sample sheet of a petition he or she shall designate to the 8
secretary of state the name and address of the person to 9
whom any notices shall be sent pursuant to sections 116.140 10
and 116.180 and, if a committee or person, except the 11
individual submitting the sample sheet, is funding any 12
portion of the drafting or submitting of the sample sheet, 13
the person submitting the sample sheet shall submit a copy 14
of the filed statement of committee organization required 15
under subsection 5 of section 130.021 showing the date the 16
statement was filed. The secretary of state shall refer a 17
copy of the petition sheet to the attorney general for [his] 18
approval and to the state auditor for purposes of preparing 19
a fiscal note and fiscal note summary. The secretary of 20
state and attorney general [must] shall each review the 21
petition for [sufficiency as to form ] compliance with 22
section 116.050 and article III, sections 28, 49, 50, 51, 23
and 52(a) of the Missouri Constitution and approve or reject 24
[the form of] the petition, stating the reasons for 25
rejection, if any. 26
2. Within two business days of receipt of any such 27
sample sheet, the office of the secretary of state shall 28
conspicuously post on its website the text of the proposed 29
measure, a disclaimer stating that such text may not 30
constitute the full and correct text as required under 31
section 116.050, and the name of the person or organization 32
submitting the sample sheet. The secretary of state's 33
failure to comply with such posting shall be considered a 34
violation of chapter 610 and subject to the penalties 35
provided under subsection 3 of section 610.027. The posting 36 SB 862 17
shall be removed within three days of either the withdrawal 37
of the petition under section 116.115 or the rejection for 38
any reason of the petition. 39
3. Upon receipt of a petition from the office of the 40
secretary of state, the attorney general shall examine t he 41
petition [as to form] and determine whether it complies with 42
section 116.050 and article III, sections 28, 49, 50, 51, 43
and 52(a) of the Missouri Constitution . If the petition is 44
rejected [as to form], the attorney general shall forward 45
his or her comments to the secretary of state within ten 46
days after receipt of the petition by the attorney general. 47
If the petition is approved [as to form], the attorney 48
general shall forward his or her approval [as to form] to 49
the secretary of state within te n days after receipt of the 50
petition by the attorney general. 51
4. The secretary of state shall review the comments 52
and statements of the attorney general [as to form] and make 53
a final decision as to the approval or rejection [of the 54
form] of the petition. The secretary of state shall send 55
written notice to the person who submitted the petition 56
sheet of the approval within fifteen days after submission 57
of the petition sheet. The secretary of state shall send 58
written notice if the petition has been rejected, together 59
with reasons for rejection, within fifteen days after 60
submission of the petition sheet. 61
116.334. 1. If the petition [form] is approved 1
pursuant to section 116.332 , the secretary of state shall 2
make a copy of the sample petition available on the 3
secretary of state's website. For a period of fifteen days 4
after the petition is approved [as to form] pursuant to 5
section 116.332, the secretary of state shall accept public 6
comments regarding the proposed measur e and provide copies 7 SB 862 18
of such comments upon request. Within twenty-three days of 8
receipt of such approval, the secretary of state shall 9
prepare and transmit to the attorney general a summary 10
statement of the measure which shall be a concise statement 11
not exceeding one hundred fifty words. This statement shall 12
[be in the form of a question using ] use language neither 13
intentionally argumentative nor likely to create prejudice 14
either for or against the proposed measure. The attorney 15
general shall within ten days approve the legal content and 16
form of the proposed statement. 17
2. Signatures obtained prior to the date the official 18
ballot title is certified by the secretary of state shall 19
not be counted. If a court orders a change that 20
substantially alters the content of the official ballot 21
title under subsection 4 of section 116.190, then all 22
signatures gathered before such change occurred shall be 23
invalidated, regardless of whether those signatures were 24
gathered on petition pages that displ ayed what was 25
previously the official ballot title as certified by the 26
secretary of state. 27
3. Signatures for statutory initiative petitions shall 28
be filed not later than six months prior to the general 29
election during which the petition's ballot measure is 30
submitted for a vote, and shall also be collected not 31
earlier than the day after the day upon which the previous 32
general election was held. 33
Section B. Section A of this act shall become 1
effective on November 9, 2022. 2