Background
Supporters of Initiative Petition 2026-106 submitted more than 300,000 signatures for a proposed Missouri constitutional amendment concerning the initiative and referendum process. The secretary of state had approved the petition’s form and certified its official ballot title in September 2025.
About an hour before the statutory certification deadline, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins issued a certificate declaring the petition insufficient under the Missouri Constitution. The certificate did not state a reason for that conclusion; it attached an attorney general opinion by reference, revoked the earlier ballot title, and issued a replacement title. Petition signers sued, but the circuit court upheld the insufficiency determination.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed. Section 116.150.2 required the secretary’s certificate itself to state the reason for any insufficiency finding. A bare assertion that the petition was constitutionally insufficient, coupled with an attached opinion prepared by another official, did not satisfy that duty and preserved no basis for judicial review.
The Court further held that the secretary’s substantive objections largely concerned possible constitutional consequences if voters later adopted the amendment, making them unripe in a pre-election challenge. The petition did not violate the single-article rule because it proposed revisions only to article III, and its provisions shared the single subject of protecting citizens’ reserved initiative and referendum lawmaking power. The secretary also lacked statutory authority to revoke the previously certified ballot title and issue a new one.
Key Takeaways
- A certificate of petition insufficiency must state its reasons; the secretary cannot delegate that explanation through incorporation of another official’s document.
- Pre-election review does not extend to speculative constitutional defects that would arise only if voters approve an initiative.
- The Court ordered the secretary to certify the petition as sufficient and place it on the November 2026 ballot using the September 2025 ballot title.
Why It Matters
The decision enforces chapter 116’s expedited and structured process for reviewing initiative petitions. It prevents election officials from blocking a petition through an unexplained insufficiency finding or by reconsidering a ballot title after the statutory certification and challenge periods have passed.