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.
A photo voter ID requirement was signed into law in 2006 by then-Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican. The law was struck down by the state Supreme Court. Because the law was ruled unconstitutional, likely the only way to pass photo ID requirements in Missouri is to amend the constitution, said Rep. Stacey Newman, D-Richmond Heights.
“We spend a lot of time revering our constitution and yet this bill would require a change,” Newman said at the hearing. “So it would have to go to a vote of the people.”
Rep. Joe Adams, D-University City, said that parallels could be drawn between this proposal and attempts in the South to silence black voters in the 19th century.
Full Article: Voter photo ID bill advances to Missouri House floor : News.