Missouri voters must return mail ballots through USPS after court sides with Ashcroft
Missouri voters receiving ballots for the November 3 election cannot return them in person, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, upholding a state requirement that they be returned by U.S. mail.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a district court ruling that would have allowed voters to return their mail ballots in person— as they can in neighboring Kansas.
It means Missouri’s requirement that mail ballots be returned by the U.S. Postal Service remains in effect. Voters who have not returned ballots will need to do so quickly must be received by Election Day in order to count.
Other states, including Kansas, accept mail ballots for several days after the election as long as they are postmarked by November 3 to compensate for potential postal delays.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, representing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, argued in a legal filing earlier this month that there is no constitutional right to vote by mail and that loosening the rules after the process had already started would increase voters’ confusion.
“The ballot envelopes sent to every mail-in voter contain clear and emphatic instructions to voters to return their mail-in ballots by mail. Hundreds of thousands of absentee and mail-in ballots have already been sent to voters, and many thousands of Missourians have already voted,” Schmitt said.
“Changing the rules midstream is sure to create confusion, disruption, self contradictory instructions, unequal treatment of voters, and voter discouragement.”
Ashcroft said in a short statement that he was pleased the appeals court “has agreed not to change the rules for returning mail-in ballots.”
Yinka Faleti, Ashcroft’s Democratic opponent in the race for Missouri secretary of state, criticized Ashcroft for appealing the lower court’s ruling.
“When Jay Ashcroft wins, the people of Missouri lose,” Faleti said in the statement. “There is no justification for the secretary of state to be fighting this hard to make it more difficult for Missourians to return their ballots.”
The federal lawsuit against the state’s mail ballot restrictions had been brought by the Organization for Black Struggle, a St. Louis-based nonprofit that works to “address the needs and issues of the Black working-class,” according to its website. The organization did not immediately comment on Thursday’s ruling.
The case is part of a broader legal struggle rapidly unfolding as Republicans and Democrats wrangle in court over an election that is generating unprecedented volumes of mail voting because of the pandemic.
The U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked 4 to 4 on a case involving Pennsylvania mail ballots earlier this week. The tie meant that a state court ruling allowing mail ballots to be returned through the Friday after the election was upheld.
If the Missouri case is appealed to the high court, the court may have an additional member by the time the court weighs the case.
Senate Republicans intend to vote this week to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett to the court, a move that could have major ramifications for election-related disputes across the nation.
Missouri is one of the only states that makes a legal distinction between absentee ballots and mail ballots. In most states, the terms are used interchangeably.
In Missouri, absentee ballots, which require an excuse, can be returned by mail or in person. Mail ballots, which are available to all voters, must be returned by mail.
The Jackson County Election Board has previously told The Star that the differing rules have created confusion among voters.
Missouri is also one of only seven states, which is not offering a statewide tracking service for mail ballots this election.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
