Missouri Secretary of State

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The Missouri Secretary of State is a member of the executive branch of government and has constitutional as well as statutory duties in the state of Missouri.

The current officeholder is Robin Carnahan.

Divisions

There are six divisions that the secretary of state works with, which include:

  • Business Services: annual reports, small business advocacy, and business registration.
  • State Archives
  • Elections: voting information and procedures, election results and statistics, Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and registration of candidates
  • Securities and Investing: filing complaints, smart investing, registration, and enforcement of regulations
  • State Library
  • Publications: tracking of state documents, the state seal, voting rosters and manuals.

Role in the initiative process

Drafting of the ballot

In order for a ballot to gain approval in the state of Missouri, a petitioner must submit a sample petition, at which time the petitioner will receive a receipt. According to the guidelines of the state, the text for the ballot is then sent to the state attorney general to be check for the initiative's legality and format.

Within 10 days the initiative will be returned to the secretary of state's office. The secretary of state will evaluate the attorney general's comments as to the format of the petition and choose to reject or approve it. Under this final appraisal a letter is sent out to the petitioner alerting them of the secretary of state's decision.

If the initiative was approved then a summary statement is prepared and sent to the attorney general within 10 days. The attorney general will then check the summary for its legality and format before returning it to the secretary of state, again within 10 days. The secretary of state then has 3 days to certify the ballot title and send a copy of the title, summary and fiscal note to the petitioner.

The information about the ballot will be posted on the secretary of state website.

Submitting the ballot

Petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state within 6 months of the general elections.

Petitioners must turn in the paperwork showing the number of pages per county, circulator's reports, and contact information. Within 20 days of receiving this information the secretary of state shall prepare and send fair ballot language statements that explain what a vote for or against a measure would represent. The attorney general then will double check the summary for legality and form and return in to the secretary of state within 10 days.

Signature verification

Signatures are verified by the local election authority. Time for the delivery of signatures to each election authority varies on the number of petitions filed with the secretary of state.

  • At least one petition: signatures must be in local offices no later than two weeks after being filed with the secretary of state.
  • Total of three petitions: signatures must be in local offices no later than three weeks from being filed.
  • More than three petitions: signatures must be in local offices no later than the fourth week after being filed.

When the local election authority receives the signatures, the signatures will be verified by either choosing a random sampling or verifying the authentication of every signature. All verified signatures must be certified and delivered to the Secretary of State by 5:00pm on the last Tuesday in July prior to the election.

If the ballot is determined to be sufficient, the secretary of state will issue a certificate stating that it will be on the ballot, other wise there will be a statement giving the reasons for the insufficiency.

The secretary of state has until 5:00 pm on the 13th Tuesday prior to the general election to certify the petition.

Contact Information

Office of the Secretary of State
State Capitol, Room 208 or State Information Center
600 W Main
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Phone:573-751-4936
SOSmain@sos.mo.gov

See also

External links

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Current Secretaries of State
   
Secretary of State elections, 2010
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