Missouri: Partisan divisions are clear as Missouri Senate takes up Voter ID | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

If you drive a car or buy alcohol, you probably need a photo ID. So shouldn’t you have one to vote? It depends on whom you ask. Partisan divisions are clear as the Missouri Senate takes up a proposal to require photo ID at the polls. The bill passed out of the GOP-dominated House in January on a party-line vote. While Republicans say requiring photo identification is necessary to ensure integrity at the ballot box, Democrats characterize the proposals as an attack on minorities, students and poor people — voters less likely to have a valid ID and more likely to support Democrats. The Missouri Secretary of State’s office estimates that 225,000 registered voters in the state lack a photo ID.

Missouri: Voter ID bill clears last hurdle before Senate floor debate | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A bill to require photo ID at the polls passed one last test Wednesday before heading to the Senate floor — where St. Louis Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a Democrat, has vowed to lead a filibuster to stop it. The Senate Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee unanimously approved the bill, though its two Democratic members were absent. It would cost an estimated $16.6 million to advertise the new law and pay for the IDs and underlying source documents needed to acquire them. The Missouri Secretary of State's office estimates that about 225,000 Missourians are registered to vote but don't have a photo ID. This year's proposal comes in two parts. The first would put the question on the ballot in the form of a proposed constitutional amendment. If passed, another bill that needs to win passage of its own would dictate how the law would be enforced.

Missouri: Bill moves forward to expand Secretary of State’s authority in voter fraud cases | MDAF

A bill expanding the Secretary of State’s legal authority in prosecuting cases of voter fraud was advanced by a Senate committee vote on Monday. Senate Bill 786 would allow the Missouri Secretary of State to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged voting fraud. … Currently, the Secretary of State’s office is limited in its ability to prosecute voter fraud cases. Potential cases under current law are referred to the local agencies in which they occur. … That office is currently one Kraus himself is actively seeking. Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit), currently serving as a state senator, announced his candidacy for Secretary of State in July 2014.

Missouri: No touch-screen voting at April 5 election in St. Louis City and County | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Because of the unusually short gap between the March 15 presidential primary and the April 5 local election, St. Louis and St. Louis County will be able to offer only optical-scan paper balloting for the second vote. Normally both optical-scan and touch-screen devices are available at polling places in the two jurisdictions. But officials with the city and county election boards say the three-week period between elections isn’t long enough to reprogram all the touch-screen machines needed for April and test them again as required by law. “There just physically isn’t time,” said Gary Stoff, Republican director for the city board. Eric Fey, Democratic director for the county board, said far fewer optical scan machines are needed because each one processes ballots cast at several voting stands. So, he said, it takes less time to replace the memory cards in all the optical scan machines than it does to replace ballot information cartridges in the touch-screen machines.

Missouri: Senate advances voter ID legislation | The Missouri Times

The Senate committee overseeing election-related bills approved legislation giving Missourians a say on photo identification requirements for voters Monday. The Senate Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections committee passed House Joint Resolution 53, which would put a constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot allowing voter ID requirements. The committee also approved House Bill 1631, which would implement a photo ID requirement for voters should Missourians approve the House Joint Resolution 53 amendment.

Missouri: House voter ID begins journey in Senate | The Missouri Times

Every year since 2008, the House has passed a bill requiring photo voter identification and each year, it has failed to reach the governor’s desk after being stymied in the Senate. This year’s iteration of those bills have begun their journey, and many Republicans are hoping to see those laws come into effect before this year’s general election. Reps. Justin Alferman and Tony Dugger presented their bills, HB 1631 and HJR 53 respectively, to the Senate Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee Monday afternoon. Alferman, as he noted during debate in the House believes this bill will be different than past bills.

Missouri: Senate won’t delay on voter ID issue | Fulton Sun

A Missouri Senate committee already has taken testimony on Sen. Will Kraus’ proposal to require voters to show a photo ID when they go to vote at the polls. This week’s House passage of a similar constitutional amendment and enabling legislation bill put those two measures in the Senate as well. And Senate floor leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, told reporters Thursday the Senate won’t delay the bills. “Voter ID was one of those things we thought was important to have an early discussion about,” he explained. “It’s something that, I would think, early on we’ll have quite a bit of time for discussion.”

Missouri: Photo voter ID bill heard in Senate | Missouri Times

After last week’s House Elections Committee heard overwhelmingly negative testimony against a piece of photo voter ID legislation offered by Rep. Justin Alferman, the Senate had their turn to hear from opponents of the measure. While Sen. Will Kraus’, R-Lee’s Summitt, bill did receive some support from those who sought to prevent voter fraud, those who testified in opposition expressed their fears that this measure could unintentionally disenfranchise people of their fundamental right to vote. … “We can’t support any legislation that would disenfranchise a single eligible Missouri voter,” said John Scott of Secretary of State Jason Kander’s office. “The way that the legislation tries to accommodate for some of the folks that wouldn’t have that ID or have access to that ID doesn’t fully or adequately protect their right to vote.”

Missouri: Voter ID bill wins initial approval in Missouri House | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Missouri House on Wednesday gave first-round approval to a resolution that would ask voters to amend the state constitution to require voters show photo identification before casting a ballot. If passed by voters, a bill, which also gained initial approval Wednesday, would dictate how the constitutional amendment would be enforced. The House debated the proposals for a tense two hours, during which Republicans argued that the bill was to protect elections against voter impersonation fraud. Democrats spoke against the proposal, saying that many constituents don't possess IDs or a birth certificate needed to acquire an ID. They said that students and elderly African Americans born in the South would be especially impacted by the bill's passage.

Missouri: Voter ID plan could be among most restrictive in the country | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A Senate panel on Tuesday heard testimony on a proposal that would require voters to show a photo ID at the polls. The measure is similar to a proposal passed out of committee in the House. The bill and a separate resolution, if passed, would pose the question to voters this year in the form of a proposed constitutional amendment. In 2006, the state Supreme Court struck down a photo voter ID law, saying it infringed on the rights of voters. Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, is sponsoring the bill and accompanying resolution in the Senate. Kraus is running for secretary of state.

Missouri: Voter photo ID bill advances to Missouri House floor | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A Missouri House committee advanced proposals Thursday that would require voters show photo identification at the ballot box — something Democratic members of the committee denounced as a return to racist Jim Crow laws. The House Select Committee on State and Local Governments advanced two measures on 7-3 party-line votes. One would put the question before voters this year in the form of a proposed constitutional amendment. If passed, a bill sponsored by Rep. Justin Alferman, R-Hermann, would dictate how the new rule would be enforced.

Missouri: House committee passes 2 voter ID measures | Associated Press

A Missouri House committee approved a pair of measures Tuesday aimed at requiring government-issued photo identification to vote. A similar ID law was struck down in 2006, with the Missouri Supreme Court saying it violated state residents' constitutional right to vote. So, Republicans plan to turn the question to voters. One measure approved Tuesday would ask voters to amend the Missouri Constitution to allow photo ID requirements. The other bill would establish the legal framework for implementing such requirements. The bills, which both passed the Missouri House Committee on Elections by an 8-3 vote, are on a fast track, according to Rep. Sue Entlicher, a Republican from Bolivar who chairs the panel. She said House Speaker Todd Richardson wants a floor vote on the bills next week, though they still must be approved from the House Select Committee on State and Local Governments.

Missouri: Ferguson Voting Rights Lawsuit Heads to Trial | Al Jazeera

A year and a half after a white police officer shot black teenager Michael Brown and left his body in the street in Ferguson, Missouri, the city continues to grapple with longstanding racial inequities. Since Brown’s death, community members have pushed for police reform and evened out the racial composition of the heretofore predominantly white Ferguson city council. Now three Ferguson residents are trying, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP, to change a voting system that they say keeps African-Americans from having a voice on the local school board. Community members Redditt Hudson, F. Willis Johnson, and Doris Bailey are suing the Ferguson-Florissant School District and the St. Louis County Board of Elections in federal court over allegations that the district’s system for electing school board members violates the Voting Rights Act. The Missouri NAACP is also a plaintiff in the case, which goes to trial Monday.

Missouri: Voting on trial: ACLU case against Ferguson-Florissant goes to court | St. Louis Public Radio

Are African-American voters in the Ferguson-Florissant school district shortchanged because board members there are elected at-large? Or would dividing the district into subdistricts actually weaken the clout of black voters, not increase it? U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel will hear arguments for both sides of the issue this week in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU claims that the racial history of the makeup of the board shows that African Americans do not have representation proportional to their population. Dale Ho, an attorney from New York who handles voting rights cases nationwide for the ACLU, says the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014 brought a sharper focus to the issue. But, he added, it really has been present since the 1970s, when the Ferguson-Florissant school district was created from the Ferguson, Berkeley and Kinloch districts under a federal court order.

Missouri: Lawmakers renew push for photo ID for voters | Associated Press

Republican Missouri legislative leaders, backed by veto-proof majorities, will try again in 2016 to require voters to show photo identification at the polls, despite numerous failed attempts over the past decade. Sen. Will Kraus, a Lee's Summit Republican running for secretary of state, pre-filed a proposed constitutional amendment to allow for photo identification and a bill that would require voters to present government-issued photo ID. GOP House members pre-filed similar measures. A change to the state's constitution would be necessary before implementing a photo ID law because the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a similar measure in 2006 as unconstitutional.

Missouri: Automatic voter registration filed by two house Democrats | The Missouri Times

While Republicans across the state look to pass legislation on photo voter ID laws (or get it on the ballot via petition in the case of Secretary of State candidate Jay Ashcroft), two house Democrats have a different idea concerning voter accessibility. Reps. Randy Dunn, D-Kansas City, and Kimberly Gardner, D-St. Louis, have both put forth separate pieces of legislation which would enable automatic voter registration based on driver’s license information instead of the current independent registration process. Dunn, speaking only for his own bill, hopes this bill boosts voter turnout by removing certain hoops that must be jumped through by individuals to become registered voters. “For me, I believe we need to be engaging as many people as possible in the political process,” Dunn said. “This is one vehicle to make sure we are getting more people registered.”

Missouri: Bill Would Let Secretary of State Prosecute Voter Fraud | Ozarks First

A bill that would give the Secretary of State’s office the authority to prosecute voter fraud in Missouri is being submitted for 2016. The bill would also allow the Secretary of State to write probable cause statements in potential voter fraud cases. “It allows them to prosecute voter fraud cases if the local prosecutor chooses not to or doesn’t have the resources,” said Senator Will Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit), who is sponsoring the bill. “There are some small counties in the state of Missouri that may not have the resources and then there are some large counties that may be taking care of more violent crimes and other things that the prosecutors are a little busy with and don’t have the time for a voter fraud case.”

Missouri: Voter photo ID, ethics reform among top priorities for Senate Republicans| MissouriNet

State Senate Republicans have caucused and the filing of bills will begin December 1. The man who can decide what does and doesn’t reach the Senate floor in the 2016 session said he can’t rank legislative priorities, but Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) told Missourinet there are some issues that stand out. Voter photo ID will be proposed again. “I believe Senator [Will Kraus] … will be working through voter ID. He’s been a champion of it before. He’s very passionate about it, and many people are,” said Kehoe. “We feel like if you’re going to vote for the most powerful man in the world, having proper identification is only reasonable.”

Missouri: Loop 70 – Gerrymandered into a dead end | Columbia Daily Tribune

I have lived in this town almost as long as the courthouse columns and have never seen the like. Gerrymandering has produced exactly the opposite outcome envisioned by the cartographers. The drama is playing out on Business Loop 70, where contiguous business interests have spent time and money concocting a community improvement district like the one encompassing downtown. Moreover, they have engaged former downtown guru Carrie Gartner as their director, the one person in the world with the most experience designing and creating a CID district in Columbia, Missouri. According to state law, a CID board draws boundaries and property owners in the area decide whether to ask the city to establish the district with power to enact sales taxes. If no residents live within the district boundaries, the vote to establish the sales tax is left to property owners. Property assessments already have been approved by business interests in the district. Both special taxes must be ratified by the city council. Gartner & Co. drew their district lines very carefully to include all the interested business interests and no nearby residents. But they made a mistake, failing to exclude a lone dwelling located on the Mizzou North campus where University of Missouri student Jen Henderson lives. Henderson is a registered voter and says she is skeptical of the district. If she follows through with a “no” vote, the district idea is dead.

Missouri: College student would be sole voter in Community Improvement District sales tax decision | Columbia Daily Tribune

A mistake by representatives of the Business Loop 70 Community Improvement District means a sales tax increase the district needs to thrive will require approval by a single University of Missouri student. On Feb. 28, Jen Henderson, 23, became the sole registered voter living within the community improvement district, or CID, meaning she is the only person who would vote on a half-cent sales tax increase for the district. The Columbia City Council established the district on a 5-2 vote in April in response to a petition from a group of property owners in the CID boundaries. The “qualified voters” in a CID are capable of levying various taxes or assessments within the boundaries of the district to fund improvement projects. Under state law, decisions to impose sales taxes in a CID are to be made by registered voters living in the district boundaries. If no such registered voters are present, property owners vote. Many homes surrounding the university-owned property where Henderson resides were not included in the district when it was drawn because district organizers wanted a district free of residents.

Missouri: Ashcroft seeks 10,000 volunteers to get photo-ID proposal on the ballot | St. Louis Public Radio

Jay Ashcroft, a Republican running for secretary of state in 2016, is pleased that the Missouri Secretary of State’s office has authorized him to circulate his initiative petition proposal to allow a photo ID requirement for voters. Now, he just needs a bunch of volunteers to help out. “I want to try to get 10,000 volunteers across the state,” Ashcroft said Wednesday in a press conference at the Brentwood Library. “And if I do that, then everybody has to get 30 signatures: a couple of houses next to you in your neighborhood. A couple of people in your church, your synagogue, your mosque or wherever you worship. And then a couple of family members, and you’re done.” So far, Ashcroft estimates that he’s acquired about 1,000 helpers.

Missouri: Secretary of state candidate files voter ID measure | Associated Press

A Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state on Thursday filed an initiative petition that would allow the Legislature to require voters to present photo identification at the polls. St. Louis attorney Jay Ashcroft filed the proposed constitutional amendment with the secretary of state's office to permit a photo ID requirement. Republican supporters, including Ashcroft's opponent in the GOP primary Sen. Will Kraus, have pushed to amend the state's constitution since the Missouri Supreme Court declared photo ID requirements unconstitutional in 2006. Supporters of requiring photo ID at the polls say it would prevent in-person voter fraud and protect the integrity of elections. But Democratic opponents say the measure would make it harder for minorities, women and the poor to vote.

Missouri: Mayor Sly James can stay on the ballot in Kansas City | The Kansas City Star

Mayor Sly James can stay on the Kansas City ballot in June. Jackson County Circuit Judge Joel Fahnestock on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block James from a place on the city’s general election ballot. Primary opponent Clay Chastain had filed suit against James, claiming James was delinquent on property taxes early this year and therefore could not run for re-election as mayor. Vincent Lee, who will also be on the mayoral ballot in June, attempted to join Chastain’s lawsuit in April. But Fahnestock said Chastain lacked standing to sue and had not explored other remedies to strike James from the ballot. Lee, she said, also waited too long to try to join the case.

Missouri: Expanded voting rights, registration for military voters sent to governor | Associated Press

Military voters returning from service would have a longer window to register to vote in Missouri elections under a measure headed to the governor's desk. The Missouri Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would allow military and overseas voters to participate in elections for statewide offices, the state Legislature and statewide ballot initiatives. Currently those voters are allowed to vote only in federal elections.

Missouri: Pleadings due today in Clay Chastain’s legal attempt to get Sly James off Jackson County ballot | The Pitch

A Jackson County Circuit Court judge has told Clay Chastain, April's distant third-place finisher in the Kansas City mayoral primary, and attorneys for incumbent Sly James to file arguments to the court by the end of the day Tuesday about whether James should be disqualified as a candidate. Tuesday's deadline is the first major step in Chastain's bid to remove James from the ballot. Jackson County Judge Joel Fahenstock indicated on Monday that she might hold a hearing on Friday afternoon.

Missouri: Conway pursues absentee voting changes | St. Joseph News-Press

A St. Joseph Democratic lawmaker continues to push ahead with attempted reforms to the state’s method of absentee balloting. Rep. Pat Conway has filed only one bill for the 2015 legislative session: a measure that would allow registered voters eligible to vote in a particular election to do so by absentee ballot without needing to provide a reason. Mr. Conway’s proposal seeks to repeal the state’s requirement of asking a registered voter who applies for an absentee ballot to submit a reason for voting absentee. However, the application would have to state whether the voter is incapacitated or confined due to an illness, physical disability, or is someone who is primarily responsible for the physical care of an incapacitated or confined person.

Missouri: Ferguson Mayor James Knowles faces recall effort | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For the past few months, a series of protests have targeted the homes of politicians, and Mayor James Knowles III figured his turn was coming soon, especially after Friday, when five residents filed an affidavit to remove him from office. And sure enough, about 6:45 a.m. Monday, roughly 10 protesters were outside his house, playing music along with sound bites of his own comments through a bullhorn. Knowles said he had warned his wife that if the protesters showed up at his door, he was going to open it, and so he did. “They were clearly not expecting that,” he said.

Missouri: Callaway County Clerk requests new voting machines | Fulton Sun

The Callaway County Commission and County Clerk Denise Hubbard met with sales associates from Springfield-based Elkins-Swyers Company to learn about options for new voting machines. Hubbard said the current voting machines are at least 10 years old, and the most common glitch is with the piece that rolls ballots into the machine’s hub for storage. She added that piece of equipment can sometimes be fixed internally, but when the issue is more complex, the machine has to be shipped to Springfield for repairs. Clerk employees use Windows 98 on election nights. Cory Nibert, a sales associate with Elkins-Swyers, said the current machines have not yet been phased out, but parts are becoming more expensive. He and his co-worker, Steve Byers, brought a new voting machine inside the Commission’s office Thursday for demonstration. Hubbard told the commission she wanted to give them an idea of what’s available. “(The system) is very similar to what we use now. It’s just a little more computerized, maybe,” Hubbard said. “It’s a little easier, a little smoother. It’s going to cut down on man hours.”

Missouri: New machines will help visually impaired voters cast ballots | Southeast Missourian

A purchase approved Thursday by the Cape Girardeau County Commission will allow visually impaired voters a little more autonomy when it comes to casting ballots. Starting with April's election, the county's accessible voting units will have larger screens -- 15 by 15 inches versus the 7-by-3-inch screens currently in use. County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said the larger screens were not available when the county originally purchased accessible voting equipment. The requirements included in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 were the kick-start that brought such equipment to many counties, including Cape Girardeau.

Missouri: State Official Says Photo ID At Polls Would Put ‘Unjust Burden’ on Missouri Voters | The Missourian

Voter photo ID legislation filed in the Missouri House would put an “unjust burden” on voters, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Jason Kander told The Missourian Monday. Under the legislation, which would be subject to voter approval, citizens could be required to present a photo ID at the polls in order to vote. Currently, voters can present an ID without a picture to vote but also have the option of presenting a photo ID. Proponents of photo ID at the polls say it can reduce the risk of voter fraud. Opponents say requiring photo ID can put up barriers for voters.