Missouri governor signs bill that expands mail-in voting options for August, November elections
All Missourians will be eligible to vote by mail during the August and November elections, under a bill signed by Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday.
A majority of voters, however, will need to have their ballot notarized under the new law, which expires at the end of the year.
The legislation was passed to give Missourians more options to vote in the face of a possible resurgence of the novel coronavirus in the summer and fall.
“Any Missourian affected by COVID-19 should still be able to vote, including those who are sick or considered at-risk,” Parson said in a statement.
Voters who fall within “at-risk” categories as defined in the law can vote absentee and will not need notary approval. Those include those 65 or older, immunocompromised, or have certain chronic or respiratory illnesses.
President Donald Trump has bridled at states that have mailed in mass applications for absentee ballots to all voters or have tried to expand mail-in options.
“MAIL-IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE. IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY,” Trump tweeted in May.
Keeping notarization, which holds the penalty of perjury, was an attempt to “prevent voter fraud and ballot harvesting,” according to the governor’s office.
“I fully agree with President Trump’s position and do not support any plan to expand mass mail-in voting without a reason,” Parson said in a statement. “This only enables voter fraud and ballot harvesting, and I am proud to sign this bill to stop that process from happening in our state.”
Previously, only Missourians who could claim one of the excuses under Missouri law could vote absentee by mail. Those include being absent from the jurisdiction where they are registered; incapacitated due to illness; caring for someone with a disability; having a religious belief or practice that in-person voting would violate; working as an election official and being in a witness protection program or incarcerated.
And only those “confined due to illness” would not need their ballot to be notarized.
Starting in March, local election authorities and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft worked to craft legislation that would find a balance between making voting accessible during the pandemic and assuaging mostly Republican concerns of voter fraud. Their plan was to solely expand absentee voting.
However, lawmakers came to a compromise the last day of a truncated legislative session to institute a new mail-in ballot system, while also adding another excuse to vote absentee. In the process, they dropped reinstating requirements for photo identification while voting in-person, a move that lost Ashcroft’s support of the bill.
Because lawmakers were only able to pass the bill by May 15, they openly admitted the measures would not be available to voters during the June 2 local government elections, which Parson moved from April due to fear of the virus.
Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Parson told Missourians that their safety should be their priority and if they don’t feel safe, “then don’t go out and vote.”
The Missouri Democratic Party decried the new law “too little, too late.”
“The governor should have stepped up to protect Missourians’ right to vote before Tuesday’s low turnout local elections and he should have backed no-excuse absentee voting,” Kevin Donohue, the party’s spokesman, said in a statement. “Instead, Parson today peddled the same baseless lies to justify voter suppression in the midst of a pandemic.”
Election authorities have had to scramble to replace polling locations and workers who canceled, while also finding ways to mitigate health risks to voters and workers.
Several voters, who came to the polls in-person Tuesday, expressed frustrations that they didn’t have more options.
In May, a poll commissioned by Secure Democracy, an election safety advocacy organization, found that 78% of 600 Missourians surveyed wanted to keep polling locations open while also allowing all Missourians to vote absentee.
About 65% of Missourians surveyed preferred not requiring a notary public, but rather election officials match signatures to voters rolls.
“On the heels of coronavirus, Missourians strongly support proposals that would make absentee ballots available to every voter who requests one, regardless of their circumstances, in order to have safe voting options,” the polling memo stated. “Plus, Missouri voters agree that the federal government should provide additional funding to help cover the increased costs of making sure every Missourian can vote safely.”
How it works
In Missouri, voters will still need to request a ballot before one can be mailed.
Voters not considered “at-risk” under the law could mail an application for a ballot to their local election authority via the U.S. Postal Service. Once approved and mailed back, however, the ballots would need to be signed by the voter and validated by a notary public before their return.
Notaries are not allowed to charge in Missouri if purpose of their service is related to voting. The Secretary of State keeps a list of registered notaries.
A decree allowing online, remote notaries will expire June 15 with Parson’s emergency declaration.
The legislature passed a bill that would create remote online notaries. Parson has not indicated whether he will sign the bill and the implementation of the law would have to go through the state’s rule-making process.
The Secretary of State’s office plans to provide guidance to local election officials on the new law. It will advertise the changes to the voting law through traditional media and social media.
A bipartisan team of election judges are required to open and process each mail-in ballot in Missouri.
“An influx of large numbers of mailed-in absentee ballots will make a difference for local election authorities, but I have confidence in county clerks and boards of elections that they will meet the challenge and provide timely election results,” Ashcroft said in an email.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 8:07 PM.