Missouri voter ID bill passes House, heads to Senate

(The Center Square) – Missouri Republicans have been proposing – and adopting – voter photo ID bills since 2006, even securing 63-percent approval of a 2016 ballot measure that included a voter photo ID mandate.

But each time, lawsuits have stymied implementation or court rulings have made adopted measures unrecognizable from those approved by the Legislature.

As a result, even though Missouri was one of the first states to adopt a voter ID law similar to those now on the books in 36 states, it is among 14 states that has not enacted one.

And, so, Missouri Republicans are again promoting a voter ID bill during the 2021 session and a measure mandating voter ID for access to regular ballots has already passed through the House.

House Bill 334, sponsored by Rep. John Simmons, R-Washington, was approved in a mostly partisan 109-46 House floor vote Wednesday and dispatched to the Senate, where it is expected to be adopted.

“The voters of Missouri want their votes protected and counted properly,” Simmons said on the House floor Wednesday. “They don’t want their votes to be disenfranchised by fraudulent votes. Showing a photo ID will help my constituents and your constituents ensure their vote is not disenfranchised.”

Under HB 334, registered voters who do not have a state-issued identification would either need to get a government-issued photo ID or only be allowed to cast provisional ballots on Election Day and return with the appropriate documents before their ballot is counted.

The bill removes a provision that requires a voter without a state-issued ID to sign a sworn affidavit to receive a “regular” as opposed to a provisional ballot.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that provision is unconstitutional under state law, preventing the state from implementing the Amendment 6 ballot initiative, which required the presentation of IDs by voters.

By changing state law to require a valid photo ID for a regular ballot and delegate all those without ID to vote via provisional ballots that must be validated before they are counted, HB 334 is designed to get around the 2016 Supreme Court ruling by changing state law.

Simmons said the 2016 court decision “utterly and wholly gutted the intent and practicality of this statute” and proponents are changing tactics to amend the state constitution itself.

“Missourians expect people to come to the polls and identify themselves with secure photo identification when they go to the polls,” Simmons said.

According to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, about 137,700 registered voters in Missouri did not have a state-issued identification in 2017, another 140,000 voters had expired IDs and 2,000 more voters had forfeited their driver’s licenses.

Voting rights advocates say voter ID bills like HB 334 negatively impact minorities, seniors, voters with disabilities and many others who struggle with the transportation, don’t have driver licenses or the money to get an ID.

During Wednesday’s floor debate, Republicans joined Democrats in questioning why the bill doesn’t include a state subsidy to cover the costs of obtaining an ID, which can be an expensive and lengthy process for people who have to obtain a birth certificate.

That often can be a costly and lengthy process, said state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, who also said it amounts to a “poll tax” on the poor.

“It’s something that courts view with suspicion,” he said, “that in order to vote, you have to get an ID and we’re not going to pay for it.”

HB 334 is needed to prevent voter fraud and “illegal votes,” said Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch, R-Hallsville.

“I have been fighting dead people on the roles in Boone County for 40 years,” Reisch said. “In fact, today I just sent more dead people to my county clerk.”

The bill is wanted and needed by state residents, Simmons said.

“They expect voters to come to the poll, to identify themselves with secure, verifiable photo identification when they go to the polls. It’s a simple as that,” he said.

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