After court strikes down Missouri voter ID law, House Republicans push another

Just over a year after the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the state’s voter ID law, House Republicans Wednesday passed a new version they hope will pass constitutional muster.

The bill, which goes to the Senate, requires Missourians to present a state-issued photo ID to cast a regular ballot in elections.

This year, lawmakers have renewed their efforts to more tightly regulate voting, in response to instances of fraud that some Missouri Republicans claim are commonplace despite few prosecutions. Legislators are also considering whether or not to continue the expanded mail-in voting options they approved last year during the pandemic.

The Missouri measures are part of a broad effort by Republican state lawmakers to restrict ballot access in the aftermath of a presidential election marked by charges of fraud and corruption — virtually none of which were sustained by courts.

At least 165 bills restricting voting access have been filed in state capitols this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, as Democrats aim to use their new narrow majority in the U.S. Senate to expand voting rights nationally.

Opponents have decried the state efforts as burdensome or costly for low-income and elderly citizens, with Democrats labeling the measure that passed the Missouri House a “poll tax” intended to disenfranchise.

The bill requires voters to use forms of ID from a pre-approved list, such as a driver’s license. Those without required photo ID can cast a provisional ballot that would only be counted if the local election department verifies the voter’s signature with one on file.

The bill is similar to the measure Republicans passed in 2016. That law offered three options for voting: with an approved photo ID; by provisional ballot; or with a non-photo ID and a signed affidavit, in which the voter states under penalty of perjury that he or she has no form of approved personal identification.

The Missouri Supreme Court last year found the affidavit wording unconstitutionally “contradictory” and “misleading,” essentially gutting the law.

The new bill removes the disputed non-photo ID and affidavit option, eliminating the ability for voters to use documents such as Missouri college IDs, voter ID cards and other state-issued identification.

Sponsor Rep. John Simmons, a Republican from Washington, said the court’s ruling was narrow and did not touch on the constitutionality of photo ID requirements.

He called his measure a “phoenix” that “grows from the ashes from that court case.”

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has testified in favor of both the new bill and the original photo ID law, which he pushed for after running for office with an “Election Integrity” bus tour. He has said his office has provided free photo IDs to voters who do not have them.

Opponents say it’s still difficult and time-consuming for poor or elderly residents to get updated documentation. The bill is opposed by civil rights groups including the Missouri NAACP State Conference and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri.

Rep. Joe Adams, a University City Democrat, blasted Republicans for “trying to disenfranchise people who you believe you can’t trust will vote correctly.”

“You are a stalking horse for other states to try to figure out a way to make sure that you can’t lose a national election again,” he said.

On the House floor, Eureka Republican Dottie Bailey read off a list of voter fraud convictions from a Google search and called claims that fraud is minimal “gaslighting.”

“God knows what went on in 2020 and all the convictions that will come out of that,” she said, in apparent reference to debunked claims of illegitimate votes in last year’s presidential election. “I bet we’re going to add about 500 more.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 8:10 PM.