CCS/HCS/SS#2/SCS/SBs 1014 & 730 – Under the act, the Supreme Court shall establish a three judge panel in each district of each court of appeals, to process petitions from election authorities in case of various disasters and emergencies. Elections may be moved or postponed upon approval of such petitions by the panel. Challenges to a voter's identification may be made only to the election judges or other election authority. If the challenger is not satisfied with the decision of an election judge, he or she can report to the election authority according to other subsections in this section.
The act allows community college districts to forgo elections for board of trustees if there is only one candidate.
Under current law, election authorities shall arrange registration cards in binders or authorize the creation of computer lists to document voter registration. This act requires election authorities to use the Missouri voter registration system to prepare a precinct register of legally registered voters for each precinct.
The act bars persons from compensating others for registering voters. Those who agree to or offer to submit a voter registration application for another person shall not knowingly destroy, deface, or conceal such an application and shall submit the application to the election authority within seven days of accepting the application. Those in violation of these provisions are guilty of a class four election offense.
Persons paid for soliciting more than ten voter registration applications, other than those paid by the government, must register with the secretary of state as a voter registration solicitor. A solicitor must be eighteen years old, registered to vote in Missouri, and register for every election cycle. Penalties for the failure to register are provided in the act.
The act allows anyone who believes a violation of the Help America Vote Act has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur may file a complaint with the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's office. Complaint requirements are established.
Currently, election authorities must provide polling places with 55 ballots for each 50 and fraction of 50 registered voters. Under the act, for elections in charter counties with a population between 250,000 and 350,000, the election authority may provide each polling place with 55 ballots for each 50 and a fraction of 50 voters registered in the district. In elections other than general elections in other counties, election authorities must provide polling places with at least one and one-third times the number of ballots that were cast at the polling place during an election held two years prior to the current election. For general elections in such counties, the authority must provide at least one and one-third times the number of ballots cast at the polling place during an election held four years prior to the current election.
The act amends personal identification requirements to be shown to gain voter eligibility at polling places. The identification must include the individual's name and photograph, and must have not expired before the date of the most recent general election and be issued by the United States or the state of Missouri or issued by the Missouri National Guard, the US armed forces or the Veteran's Administration unless it is a non-expiring or non-expired Missouri nondriver's license or a non-expired Missouri driver's license. Voters with physical or mental disabilities, handicaps or sincerely held religious beliefs and those born on or before January 1, 1941 who do not have sufficient identification are exempt from the requirement if they execute an affidavit stating such a sufficient reason. These individuals may cast a provisional ballot.
The Secretary of State shall provide advance notice of the personal ID requirements via advertisements and public service announcements delivered through a variety of media.
The act allows for issuing non-driver's licenses with photographic images to fulfill the identification requirement. The state of Missouri shall pay all the legally required fees for applicants for non-driver's licenses. Elderly and disabled persons shall be issued a non-driver's license through a mobile processing system operated by the Department of Revenue at no cost. The mobile processing system shall operate at convalescent, nursing, and boarding homes and other public places accessible to and frequented by the elderly and disabled. At least 9 units will remain on hand for dispatch. (These provisions go into effect upon the Governor's signature of this act. Section 115.427.7)
The Department of Revenue shall deliver a yearly report documenting the number of individuals who have acquired nondriver's license identification for the purposes of voting and those who have requested them but have been denied.
Procedures to be followed to establish a voter's eligibility to vote at a polling place are established. Provisional ballots are allowed in some circumstances. Prior to counting provisional ballots, the election authority must determine if the voter is registered and eligible to vote, and the vote was properly cast. Procedures for this determination are included in the act.
State courts do not have jurisdiction to extend polling hours. The act repeals provisions that allow straight ticket voting.
The act allows children under 18 to accompany parents, grandparents and guardians into voting booths and procedures for inspecting ballot cards are established.
The act makes the engaging in any act of violence, destruction of property having a value of five hundred dollars or more, or threatened act of violence with the intent of denying a person's lawful right to participate in the election process, and knowingly providing false information about election procedures for the purpose of preventing someone from going to the polls, a class one election offense and a felony.
This act contains an emergency clause that only applies to Section 115.427.
CHRIS HOGERTY