JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Earlier this week, the America First Policy Center for Election Integrity (CEI), praised Missouri’s leadership for the recent passage of new election integrity measures. In June, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft thanked Gov. Mike Parson for signing House Bill 1878 – known as the election integrity bill – expanding voter access and further safeguarding Missouri elections.
“Our number one objective is to make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat,” Ashcroft said. “Most Missourians agree–it’s common sense to require voters to prove they are who they say they are when they cast a ballot. Missouri is now a leader in election integrity and has strengthened public trust in our elections.”
CEI, a national group that monitors election laws across the country, rates states across three key areas of voter protection; (1) requiring photo identification to vote, (2) prohibiting ballot harvesting, and (3) returning ballots to election officials on election day.
“Under my leadership, Missouri has gone from red to green on the Center for Election Integrity’s rating system,” Ashcroft continued. “This isn’t just about good policy – we listened to Missouri voters to secure our elections and enhance accessibility for all registered voters.”
The foundation of the American system of self-governance is liberty, and the core expression of the people’s liberty is the ability to vote in free and fair elections. The new changes to Missouri’s voting law will take effect on Aug. 28, 2022, affecting the November general election;
- Requires photo ID when voting in person and allows two weeks for no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
- Allows the secretary of state to audit voter rolls.
- Mandates cybersecurity testing for the local election authorities and the secretary of state every two years.
- Prohibits private funding to election authorities.
- Includes “air-gap” as a definition – meaning equipment is physically and technically isolated from any internet-enabled network, including tabulating equipment, electronic voting machines, and electronic voting systems.
- Mandates paper ballots.
According to CEI, polling shows the measures indicated on the map are popular with between 82% to 85% of Americans.
“Missouri is a national leader on common sense election integrity,” Ashcroft concluded. “Thank you to CEI for recognizing Missouri’s commitment to safe, secure, and honest elections.”
