Legislative Column for the Week of June 29, 2015

This week, Secretary of State Jason Kander approved initiative petition language to constitutionally allow for a voter photo-identification requirement in Missouri. In light of this approval, it is important for Missouri citizens to know the history of voter-identification movement in Missouri.

The Missouri Legislature has been debating a photo-identification voting requirement, meant to preserve the integrity of elections, for nearly a decade. The first major push started in 2006 when the legislature passed a law requiring photo-identification for voters, only to be challenged and overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2007. Recent efforts have focused on putting the issue to the people on a statewide ballot, either through a legislative resolution or an initiative petition.

The issue came to prominence in Missouri after Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002. The law established procedures for voter-identification and required citizens to verify their identity and address before voting, which was not required in Missouri prior to its passage. In response to HAVA, the Missouri legislature began to consider methods to ensure the integrity of elections, including a photo-identification requirement in order to vote. In 2006, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1014, requiring a photo identification to cast a ballot. Voters were required to show a government-issued photo ID, with certain limited exceptions.

After former Governor Blunt signed the bill into law, two lawsuits were filed, claiming the bill violated the Missouri Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled against the law the next year, stating that the constitution does not allow the legislature to pass such a requirement.

Despite this ruling, the issue has remained important to Missouri lawmakers. Joint resolutions, which do not have to be signed by the governor, have been filed almost every year since the 2007 ruling to put a constitutional amendment allowing voter-identification requirements to a vote of the people. If any of the amendments had passed, they would not automatically institute a photo-identification requirement, but would allow the Legislature to pass such a law. In 2011, a voter-identification resolution passed the General Assembly, but the proposed ballot language was thrown out by a circuit judge. The resolution was effectively kept off the ballot.

Since 2013, I have sponsored the resolutions aiming to put voter-identification to a vote of the people. I have continued to update the proposed voter-identification law to accommodate the most pressing concerns against such requirements.  In the 2015 bill, voters who could not afford to purchase a government issued photo ID would be provided one by the state, voters who forgot their ID would be allowed to cast a provisional ballot and return with the necessary documentation, and elderly voters over a certain age would be exempt from the requirement. The intention of these laws is to protect principle of one person, one vote that is absolutely vital to our democracy.

More cases of fraud are appearing throughout the country, and 17 other states have adopted photo-identification requirements in the effort to prevent voter-fraud. Missouri lawmakers will continue to push for a voter-identification requirement that is necessary to ensure the integrity of our elections. The people should be allowed to decide on this issue by putting the language to a vote on a statewide ballot. Allowing the citizens of Missouri to vote on this important issue is the only way to resolve the political debate on voter-identification requirements.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions, and will try to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 573-751-1464, or e-mail at will.kraus@senate.mo.gov.