Missouri Law Requiring Voter ID Upheld by County Circuit Judge

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A 2016 constitutional amendment opened the door for Missouri lawmakers to enact photo ID requirements but this was challenged in 2022.

Missouri voters will have to continue showing government-issued photo identification to cast regular ballots in elections after a County Circuit Judge found the law enforcing it constitutional.

A 2016 constitutional amendment opened the door for Missouri lawmakers to enact photo ID requirements.

Missouri’s NAACP and League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of two voters to get the law overturned. The lawsuit argued that some voters struggled to get up-to-date and accurate government-issued photo IDs.

Without an ID, voters can only cast a provisional ballot, which will not count toward the final tally until the voter’s eligibility is resolved by producing an ID.

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem initially dismissed the lawsuit. However, the Missouri ACLU and Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, acting on behalf of the plaintiffs, added a third voter to the suit and again asked the law to be overturned.

Beetem noted in his latest Nov. 26 ruling that all of the individual plaintiffs have successfully voted since the law took effect and that “there is no set of circumstances under which the challenged provisions in HB 1878 are unconstitutional.”

“Their claim that their provisional ballots may be rejected is purely speculative,” he said in his ruling.

“In addition, the evidence at trial confirms that rejection rates for provisional ballots are low, and the rates specifically for signature-mismatch are exceedingly low.”

According to Beetem, the law protects the fundamental “right to vote by deterring difficult-to-detect forms of voter fraud.”

Missouri Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft praised the ruling in a Nov. 26 statement, saying that voter photo ID prevents voter fraud and improves public confidence in election results.

“Voting is the foundation of our republic,” Ashcroft said.

“It is not only our right but also our responsibility. Rather than restrict, I believe HB 1878 makes it easier to vote but harder to cheat and makes Missouri a model for other states to follow,” he added.

League of Women Voters President Marilyn McLeod said they “expect to appeal this decision” but didn’t give a firm timeline for doing so.

“The League believes the state should be making it easier, not harder, for Missourians to exercise their fundamental right to vote,” she said.

“There’s no evidence of voter impersonation in Missouri, so these restrictions don’t make our elections any safer or more secure.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states require voting identification, and 21 require a photo ID before a ballot can be cast. Voters in at least 18 different states also approved constitutional amendments earlier this month explicitly outlining that only citizens can vote.