Missouri – The Missouri House of Representatives passed HB 2140. This bill is to change the election process for the citizens of Missouri.
The bill addresses various measures for the election process including filing dates for candidate declarations, the integrity of absentee voting, as well as expanding provisional ballots. These are the key changes addressed in HB 2140:
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- The bill allows the officer or agency responsible for calling an election to notify the election authority via email.
- The bill alters the opening and closing dates for filing a declaration of candidacy for offices in political subdivisions or special districts.
- Covered voters, including those eligible to register to vote, interstate former residents, and new residents, may now vote at the office of the election authority on Election Day for presidential and vice presidential electors.
- The bill specifies that lists of absentee voters with permanent disabilities shall be kept confidential and not be publicly displayed or shown to unauthorized persons.
- Election authorities are required to compare the signature on the absentee ballot envelope with the signature on the voter’s registration record. Inconsistent signatures will result in rejection of the ballot.
- Provisional ballots, previously available only at elections with federal or statewide candidates or measures, are now available at any public election.
- Threatening or harassing election officials, attempting to pressure them to violate election laws, and doxxing them or their families are designated as election offenses, with varying degrees of severity.
- Restrictions on electioneering activities, previously applicable only near polling locations on Election Day, are extended to locations where in-person absentee voting occurs during the absentee voting period. Circulating initiatives and referendum petitions are also added to the list of prohibited activities near polling locations.
- Creation of Missouri Elections Sovereignty Act: This act reserves the right for the State of Missouri to determine the time, place, and manner of its state elections, asserting that federal laws regulating elections shall apply only to federal elections.
This Bill must still go through to the Senate to be passed or discarded. Then it still needs to get approved or discarded by the Governor of Missouri before the Bill can go into effect for the state.
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