There’s been a steady push by Republicans this legislative session to regulate voting laws in Missouri.
It isn’t new, but it’s been gaining steam.
The bills seek to regulate — or restrict — provisions around who can vote and how, the way votes are counted and other matters related to election security.
Almost all aim to address concerns that either don’t exist or to prevent changes from ever happening.
Republicans want to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote, but the Missouri Constitution and voting requirements from the secretary of state’s office already outline that requirement.
Republicans want to ban foreign governments from funding constitutional amendments, but the Missouri Constitution addresses foreign influence in elections as well.
Republicans want to ramp up election security by creating a new division that would investigate claims of election fraud, but such a division already exists and has been active for more than 10 years.
Republicans want to ban ranked-choice voting, but the voting practice is not established in state law. St. Louis practices a version of it for local elections.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that is often cited by Republicans, has ranked Missouri a high No. 6 nationally in its Election Integrity Scorecard.
Justifying Causes
Sen. Denny Hoskins (R – Warrensburg) has been vocal all session about amending the Missouri Constitution to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in Missouri.
Article 8 Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution states that “All citizens of the United States … over the age of eighteen who are residents of this state … are entitled to vote.” Hoskins wants “All” changed to “Only” to tame the possibility of noncitizens voting in elections.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R – Arnold) would ask voters whether the constitution should be changed to reflect that only U.S. citizens can vote on constitutional amendments and to ban constitutional amendments sponsored by foreign governments.
Hoskins, a candidate for secretary of state, said he believes foreign interference in elections is occurring in Missouri. But when asked if he could provide an example, Hoskins said he couldn’t because of the complexity of the process.
“It’s probably funneled through a million different ways, four or five different LLCs or companies or PACs or non-for-profits before it actually got to the place where they bought the ads or radio, TV, social media, newspaper, whatever it is,” Hoskins said. “And that’s where it’s very tough to follow the money trail.”
Article 8 Section 23, paragraph (16) of the Missouri Constitution provides protections against contributions made by foreign governments, whether they go toward a candidate committee, campaign committee or a ballot measure:
“(16) No campaign committee, candidate committee, continuing committee, exploratory committee, political party committee, and political party shall knowingly accept contributions from:
(a) Any natural person who is not a citizen of the United States;
(b) A foreign government; or
(c) Any foreign corporation that does not have the authority to transact business in this state pursuant to chapter 347, RSMo, as amended from time to time.”
What is Driving Republicans?
Opponents say these efforts are driven by “anti-immigrant bigotry” and a desire for “consolidation of power.”
“That just taps into this whole anti-immigrant bigotry fueled by [former President Donald] Trump and is kind of the norm in our American society today,” said Rep. David Tyson Smith
(D – Columbia).
Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri, said there are two underlying reasons he believes are behind Republicans’ motivation to push measures intended to make it harder to vote.
“First, it is a way to appeal to GOP primary voters,” Squire said. “Republican incumbents want to make sure that they are not vulnerable to a challenge from their right. Second, there is a calculation that making voting harder will hurt Democratic voters more than Republican voters, though that may not prove to be the case.”
“Ultimately, this push, it’s more of the national narrative bleeding down into the state,” said Connor Luebbert, a lead advocate for the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian and is reprinted under a creative commons license.