Missouri: House panel backs do-over attempt on voter ID | necn.com

Dealt a setback in court, a Missouri House committee acted quickly Tuesday to embrace new wording for a 2012 ballot measure that would allow a photo identification mandate to be imposed upon voters in future elections. The measure approved by the House Elections Committee seeks to rewrite the ballot summary voters would see when deciding later this year whether to amend the Missouri Constitution to allow a state law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls. As originally passed by lawmakers last year, the ballot summary referred to the measure as the “Voter Protection Act.”

Missouri: Court strikes down proposed voter ID amendment | KansasCity.com

A Cole County judge on Thursday struck down a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would have required voters to show photo identification at the polls. Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce ruled that the summary that would have appeared on the ballot was “insufficient and unfair” and pointed to two reasons for her ruling. First, the ballot summary includes the phrase “Voter Protection Act,” even though the phrase never actually appears in the constitutional amendment. Second, the summary stated that the amendment would allow the General Assembly to establish an early voting period, when in fact the amendment would “restrict the time period during which advance voting may occur,” Joyce said. “Because significant changes are required here and policy choices need to be made as to how to reallocate the words in a revised summary statement, the court chooses to vacate the summary statement and to provide the General Assembly an opportunity to revise it,” Joyce’s ruling said.

Missouri: Judge strikes down voter ID ballot summary | necn.com

A Missouri judge struck down the wording of a Republican-backed ballot measure that would clear the way for a state voter ID requirement, finding it lacking and leaving it to lawmakers to revise. Several legislators wasted no time getting started, saying Thursday they hoped to put the issue to voters this year. The Republican-led Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment last year that would allow separate legislation to require a photo ID and to establish an early voting period. Lawmakers wrote their own ballot summary, but Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce struck the summary down earlier this week after concluding the statement was unfair and insufficient. House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller already has filed a new version and said Thursday that he expected lawmakers to move quickly on it. He said he thinks a photo ID requirement would be popular with voters.

Missouri: Trial judge strikes down ballot summary for proposed Missouri voter ID constitutional amendment | The Republic

A trial judge has struck down the ballot summary for a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would have cleared the way for requiring voters to show photo identification. Missouri lawmakers developed the summary when they approved the measure. But Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce struck down the ballot summary and concluded that it is insufficient and unfair. In a ruling signed earlier this week, Joyce left it to the Legislature to revise.

Missouri: Voting Machine Veto Stands; St. Charles County to Re-Bid Election Items | St. Charles, MO Patch

For the second time, St. Charles County send out bids for 260 optical scan voting machines. The council lacked the five votes necessary during its Monday meeting to override County Executive Steve Ehlmann’s veto on buying 260 voting machines for $1.2 million. So, the council opted to re-bid the items. Council members Terry Hollander, Ward 5, and Paul Wynn, Ward 4, were absent. Election Authority Director Rich Chrismer said the bid results will be the same. “We will get only one bid,” he said. “There are no other companies. Is that a shame that only one company can bid in the state of Missouri? Sure it is.” Chrismer said only one company is certified under 2005 standards by both federal and state government to supply the voting machines, and that’s Henry Adkins & Son. “You could not buy new voting equipment unless it’s certified according to the 2005 standards (according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission),” Chrismer said.

Missouri: Judge considers challenge to voter ID measure | AP

Critics on Friday challenged the ballot summary for a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would clear the way to require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The Republican-led Legislature passed the constitutional amendment last year and targeted it for this year’s ballot. The measure would permit separate legislation that requires a photo ID and establishes an early voting period. Opponents contend the ballot summary developed by the Legislature is misleading and unfair. “This is the worst one I’ve ever seen, by far the worst one I have ever seen. It fails under any standard,” attorney Heidi Doerhoff Vollet said. “It’s just false and it’s wrong, and it needs to be corrected.”

Missouri: St. Charles County Republicans embarrassed by caucus shutdown | St. Louis Today

St. Charles County Republicans were working to salvage their role in the primary process a day after a frustrating caucus meltdown that many said could have been avoided. St. Charles County was to have been the biggest prize on what was the most important day for Missouri Republicans hoping to help select their party’s nominee for president. Instead, Saturday’s St. Charles County caucus was shut down when tension flared between members of the crowd and the local GOP activists who were running the meeting. The meeting adjourned without awarding delegates — leaving county Republicans with unwelcomed scrutiny, and an uncertain role in the nominating process. Most likely, the caucus will be rescheduled, but when and in what form is unclear. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, because I don’t think this has ever happened before,” said St. Charles County Council member Joe Brazil.

Missouri: Raucous GOP caucus in St. Peters is shut down | St. Louis Today

Crowds and chaos rattled Missouri’s GOP caucuses on Saturday, threatening to put further scrutiny on a process that was already a national anomaly.
In St. Charles County, which was to have been the biggest single prize of the day, the caucus was shut down before delegates were chosen after a boisterous crowd objected to how the meeting was being run, including an attempted ban on videotaping. Two supporters of presidential hopeful Ron Paul were arrested. At other caucuses, participants gathered outdoors as the appointed locations turned out to be too small to accommodate crowds or waited for hours as organizers worked through procedural questions.

Missouri: Contention, confusion mar Missouri caucuses | USAToday.com

Contention and confusion marred various Republican caucuses in Missouri on Saturday, and one meeting was abruptly shut down, as impassioned supporters of Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul battled for an edge in the state’s complicated delegate selection process. A caucus at a school near St. Louis where roughly 2,500 Republicans had gathered was adjourned before a vote could take place because it got so rowdy that extra police were summoned and two people were arrested for trespassing. Elsewhere, political tensions and divisions led to recounts not only on votes over which candidates should be supported, but even which people should preside over the caucuses. “It looks like a chaotic day around Missouri,” said former senator Jim Talent, a Romney campaign adviser who participated in one of the more politically divided caucuses in St. Louis County.

Missouri: Contention, confusion mar Missouri caucuses | USAToday.com

Contention and confusion marred various Republican caucuses in Missouri on Saturday, and one meeting was abruptly shut down, as impassioned supporters of Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul battled for an edge in the state’s complicated delegate selection process. A caucus at a school near St. Louis where roughly 2,500 Republicans had gathered was adjourned before a vote could take place because it got so rowdy that extra police were summoned and two people were arrested for trespassing. Elsewhere, political tensions and divisions led to recounts not only on votes over which candidates should be supported, but even which people should preside over the caucuses. “It looks like a chaotic day around Missouri,” said former senator Jim Talent, a Romney campaign adviser who participated in one of the more politically divided caucuses in St. Louis County.

Missouri: Voter ID at center of Missouri Secretary of State election | seMissourian.com

On Nov. 7, 2000, hundreds of St. Louis voters were unable to practice that most cherished of constitutional sacraments. They were turned away from the ballot box, told their names had been placed on the city’s list of inactive voters.
House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, calls that incident pivotal in two of his recent decisions — his introduction of legislation to require voter identification and to run for Missouri Secretary of State. “I think that’s when I began to understand the importance of having a secretary of state who truly wants to make sure your elections are fair and honest,” Schoeller said Friday during a stop in Cape Girardeau.

Missouri: State Rep. Schoeller files voter ID bill, election reform legislation | missourinet.com

The perennial fight over whether voters should have to produce a valid ID to cast elections ballots is set to begin. Rep. Shane Shoeller of Willard — who is also running for Secretary of State — has filed a bill that would require a photo ID requirement for voters. He says it’s common-sense legislation.

The measure was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon last year, and the Supreme Court struck down the requirement in 2006. Opponents of the measure say it disenfranchises poor and elderly voters. Nonetheless, Schoeller thinks it will gain approval by the Republican-led General Assembly, and hopes if it does that Nixon will pen the legislation into law.

Missouri: State audit faults St. Louis Election Board in several areas | St. Louis Beacon

The St. Louis Election Board, under fire for more than a decade and the subject of a federal lawsuit, fared only slightly better in the latest state audit — which questioned some of the agency’s practices when it comes to finances, following the state’s open-meetings laws, tracking voters and monitoring campaign finance reports.

The audit was, however, a dramatic improvement from the 2004 audit — which found costly missteps with cell phones, and far more problematic practices. Overall, this latest audit rated the board’s operations as “fair.”

The audit, released today by state Auditor Tom Schweich, faulted the board’s preference for closed meetings — which by law must be only for certain types of personnel or procurement actions.

Missouri: Fremont senator to push voter ID again | Missouri News Horizon

Nebraska is poised to enter the national debate over whether voters should be required to show some kind of identification in order to vote, as Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen plans to push legislation requiring Nebraskans to show ID before being allowed to vote.

Thirty-one states require voters to present some kind of identification in order to vote — and in 15 of those states it must be a photo ID. But Nebraska is one of 20 states with no voter ID law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more states adopt stricter voter ID laws, it’s become a hot-button issue, because critics say poor people, minorities and elderly people are less likely to carry identification while proponents say requiring proof of ID reduces voter fraud.

Missouri: Tiny Towns, Expensive Elections, St. Louis County Report Shows | Daily RFT

There are exactly 1,653 registered voters in the tiny municipality of Bel Ridge, Missouri. And so when the village decided to hold a special election in February 2010 to increase property taxes, the proposition was bound to be expensive on a per-vote basis.

The St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners had to print ballots. They needed to get voting equipment to the polls. And, of course, they had to staff those polls — with eight poll workers required in the one location chosen for Bel Ridge. All that when just 11.4 percent of Bel Ridge’s already small voter base — or 200 people — bothered to cast a ballot.

Total cost per ballot cast? $22.52.

Missouri: Suit filed against Missouri voter ID amendment | KansasCity.com

Voter advocacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit challenging a proposed state constitutional amendment that would allow photo-identification requirements in Missouri elections.

State lawmakers passed the proposed amendment in May, placing it on the November 2012 ballot for ratification. If voters approve the measure, lawmakers will be empowered to require future voters to show a state-issued photo ID at the ballot box.

Currently, voters can prove their identity with one of several documents, including a utility bill or bank statement.

Missouri: Photo ID proposal prompts GOP concern about cost, voting-rights suit | St. Louis Beacon

State Auditor Tom Schweich’s surprisingly hefty estimate of the annual government cost of Missouri’s proposed photo ID requirement for voters has some Republican legislative leaders now fearing that the proposal could be a tougher sell when it hits ballots in 2012.

A spokeswoman for state Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, said he even briefly considered filing suit by today’s 5 p.m. deadline in a last-ditch attempt to get the estimate changed.

Missouri: Missouri Governor Vetoes Controversial Voter ID Bill | Campus Progress

A major victory for voting rights was handed down on Friday when Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed controversial voter ID legislation. The bill, which would have required a photo ID to vote, was heavily opposed by many state and national groups, including Campus Progress, who joined with over 40 other organizations in signing on to a letter that was sent to the Governor on Friday before he handed down his veto. In vetoing the legislation, Governor Nixon joins Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Mark Dayton of Minnesota who also struck down photo ID bills passed earlier this year in their states. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more on Nixon’s justification for the veto:

“In a letter explaining his veto, Nixon said the photo ID requirement would have hurt senior citizens and people with disabilities who are qualified to vote but are less likely to have a drivers license or other government-issued photo ID. ‘Disenfranchising certain classes of persons is not acceptable,’ he said.”

Missouri: Voters applaud Governor Nixon’s veto of photo ID in Missouri | St. Louis American

Voter advocates across the state and nation cheered today’s announcement by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon that he would veto a repressive voter identification bill passed last month by the Missouri legislature.

“Gov. Nixon’s veto of SB 3 protects the rights of all Missouri voters and goes a long way to ensure that all eligible voters are able to cast a ballot,” said Denise Lieberman, senior attorney and Missouri Voter Protection Advocate for Advancement Project, a voter protection group among the dozens of groups who joined to oppose the measure. “The governor’s action today sends the message that no Missouri voter should be relegated to second class citizenship solely because they do not have or cannot get a state ID.”

Voter advocates have been lobbying the Governor to veto the repressive voter identification bill since the legislature passed it during the final week of the legislative session in May. A coalition of 45 organizations representing diverse constituencies sent a letter to the governor urging him to stand up for Missouri voters, and nearly 2,000 voters from across the state signed a petition urging the Governor to veto the legislation.

Missouri: Governor Nixon vetoes Missouri voter-ID and early-voting legislation | KansasCity.com

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday vetoed legislation that would have required voters to show photo identification at the polls and allowed some ballots to be cast before Election Day.

In his formal veto message, Nixon said the bill would disenfranchise voters who don’t have access to a photo ID or the documents necessary to obtain one, such as a birth certificate. Specifically, he said access to the ballot box could be limited for seniors and the disabled.

“Disenfranchising certain classes of persons is not acceptable,” he wrote in the veto message. Requiring voters to show a photo ID has been a bitter partisan issue in Missouri and across the country for years. Republicans say the measure is necessary to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats contend it addresses a nonexistent problem while, as Nixon suggested, blocking access to the ballot. Republicans called Nixon’s veto disappointing.

Missouri: Nixon faces veto choice on Missouri voting laws | Beaumont Enterprise

As a candidate, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon denounced a proposed photo identification requirement for voters as an “onerous requirement.”

Now that he is governor, Nixon will have to decide whether to follow through with his earlier convictions and veto legislation that would implement a photo identification requirement. The catch is that the measure is paired with a provision allowing an early voting period before elections — a proposal that Nixon supports.

The politically sticky situation for Nixon is the result of some maneuvering by Republican legislative leaders who for years have sought to implement a photo ID requirement for voters but had resisted efforts to allow a period during which people can cast ballots — with no absentee excuse needed — before the official election day.

Missouri: State voting bill lessens workload for Missouri county clerks | SouthCountyMail.com

If people think all legislative bills are designed to make people’s lives harder, an introduction to Senate Bill 282 should dispel that myth. This new piece of legislation would make it unnecessary for county clerks to go through absentee ballots to make sure no ballot cast by a recently-deceased voter is counted on election day.

Under the old rules, absentee voters, who may have cast their ballot up to six weeks in advance, must be alive when polls open on election day. Clerks had to check obituaries for votes cast by the recently deceased, confirm the death with the Department of Health, then throw those ballots out.

If Gov. Jay Nixon signs the bill, it will be welcome news to Webster County Clerk Stan Whitehurst, who worried that the rules were not always evenly applied.

Missouri: Todd Akin votes in Town and Country, but does he live there? | stltoday.com

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin raised his family on a sprawling homestead in this St. Louis County burg, where a modest home now sits among a collection of weathered sheds. Earlier this month, old newspapers had accumulated in the long driveway that separates the property from surrounding suburban mansions.

About 18 miles west, the Republican congressman and his wife own a secluded ranch house near the county line in Wildwood. On a recent afternoon, Akin’s Chevrolet Blazer was parked out front, and a dog sat in the driveway.

Which house is Akin’s official residence?

Missouri: Foe of voter ID law calls for Akin investigation | stltoday.com

The chief critic of a proposal to require voters to have photo IDs is calling for an investigation into the ballot habits of Congressman and Republican Senate hopeful Todd Akin.

The Post-Dispatch reported on Tuesday that Akin owns a home in Wildwood, but has voted in the last 10 elections in Town and Country, where he grew up and raised his family.

State Rep. Stacey Newman, D-Richmond Heights, said the confusion over Akin’s residency and voting undermines the need for photo ID legislation passed by the Missouri General Assembly this year.

Missouri: Representative Akin makes the case that Missouri Voter ID is bad law | stltoday.com

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan should send U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Somewhere in West St. Louis County, a thank you note.

The six-term representative just helped Ms. Carnahan make her case against the scourge of voter identification bills like the ones that the Missouri Legislature passed last month. The argument against such proposals is that too many eligible voters — Ms. Carnahan estimates more than 230,000 of them — do not have the requisite up-to-date drivers licenses to properly vote under such laws.

One of them, apparently, is Mr. Akin.

Missouri: Students Offer a Unique Perspective on New Voter Legislation | KMOV.com

Students and young voters at Saint Louis University are providing fresh opinions about two new bills passed by Missouri legislators last month that may require voters to present Missouri photo identification at the polling place.

“Obviously, no one sponsoring it is going to say it, but I think [the legislation] disenfranchises blocks of voters who traditionally vote for Democrats or liberals: the college students, the poor, the elderly,” said Patrick Grillot, a SLU student and co-founder of SLU Students for Voters’ Rights.

The bills, SB3 and SJR2, allow a referendum to be placed on the November 2012 election ballot. The referendum will ask voters whether or not to amend the Missouri Constitution to require state photo identification to vote in Missouri elections. Supporters say these bills aim to prevent voter fraud at the polling place; however, the Missouri secretary of state has not reported incidents of voter fraud at Missouri polling places in the past.

Missouri: General Assembly Passes Missouri Voter ID Requirements | Oakville, MO Patch

Voters could be prompted to show photo identification at the polls under a proposal that the Missouri General Assembly passed earlier this month.

The legislature passed two measures in May that would prompt Missourians to show government-issued photo identification at the polls. The first is a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to enact the requirement. That amendment requires voter approval. The second piece of legislation is a statutory change that would put the photo identification requirement into effect.