Early Voting, Voter ID: Too Big to Pass?

If you wanted to vote early in Missouri, you'd need to bring a photo I.D.

And that may be the reason why the entire plan dies.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

Kill Bill

The push to defeat House Joint Resolution 9.

Tonight . . . on KY3 News @ 10

Election Group Pans Voter I.D. Passage Out of Cmt.

Missourians for Fair Elections is panning a House committee vote on a voter I.D. bill Tuesday morning.

The House Elections Committee's 7 to 5 vote to approve a substitute version of the original bill was a "surprise," according to FAIR.

"In a swift move meant to circumvent public comment on the proposal, Rep. Stan Cox replaced his single page photo ID bill, HJR 9, with an 11 page committee substitute version of the bill as it came up for a vote," said Bob Quinn of FAIR in a release.

Quinn said Cox' proposal calls for "overly-restrictive photo ID and unfamiliar advance voting requirements." "Neither of the revised provisions were heard in a public forum by the committee so that concerned voters, advocates and affected organizations could share their views on the drastically overhauled measure," said Quinn.

"This legislation is so radically different from the original that the only thing that’s the same is the bill number," said state Rep. Michael Frame, D-Eureka. "We had absolutely no testimony on the ramifications of this legislation and the significant problems that could arise from writing it into the Missouri Constitution."

The Cox proposal would require ever Missouri voter to provide a government-issued photo I.D. in order to cast a ballot. Critics argue the move would disenfranchise tens of thousands of potential voters.

Sprint To The Finish

DAY OF RECKONING
'08 Session Closes Tonight
Village Law Filibustered In Senate
Watch My KY3 News @ 10 Report HERE

***ALSO***
Greene County Set To Add One Circuit Court Judge, according to Rep. Bob Dixon
House passes Death Penalty for child rapes
Red Light Cameras In the Clear: Threatening Amendments Stripped From Conference Bill

Will Photo I.D. Bill Emerge As Final Day Senate Sleeper?

Photo I.D. Showdown: The Debate

Springfield Reps Face-Off

REP. SCHOELLER VS. REP. LAMPE

DEBATE MERITS OF VOTER PHOTO I.D. LEGISLATION

Nixon Opposes Voter I.D. Bill

Here's his statement:

“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. Over the years, millions of Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice to earn and defend voting rights. As elected leaders, we should work to increase voting and participation in the democratic process, not create new unnecessary roadblocks. With just five days left in the legislative session, it’s unfortunate that Republican leaders are focused on making it harder for Missourians to vote instead of making it easier for middle-class families to afford health care or higher education. Then again, after four years of moving our state backwards, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by our opponents’ misplaced priorities.”

May I See Your I.D?

AS SESSION WINDS TO A CLOSE . . .

. . . PHOTO I.D. DEBATE RAMPS UP

MISSOURI HOUSE GIVES 1st Round Approval of a Constitutional Amendment

THAT COULD GO TO VOTERS . . . G.O.P. calls it a "minimal safeguard"

***HJR 48***

DEMS CRY FOUL OVER LATE SESSION SHOWDOWN: "House Republicans ensured it won’t receive the rigorous examination that proposed constitutional amendments deserve," said House Minority Leader Paul LeVota

CARNAHAN PLANS THURSDAY PRESSER: Secretary of State claims legislation could put voting rights of 240,000 Missourians at risk

LeVota Downplays Ruling, Blunt Offers Praise

A Supreme Court ruling Monday that found the federal Constitution does not prohibit states from requiring voters to show photo identification at their polling place won't have much impact in Missouri, according to House Minority Leader Paul LeVota.

LeVota said that's because Missouri's Supreme Court based its 2006 decision striking down the photo-ID law on the state constitution.

“In invalidating the Missouri law, the state Supreme Court said that Article VIII, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution unequivocally guarantees the right of all legally registered Missouri voters to cast ballots and that the General Assembly may not impose additional requirements, such as photo ID, that aren’t specified in the state constitution," LeVota said in a statement.

“As the Missouri Supreme Court noted in declaring the 2006 law unconstitutional, not only was there no evidence that voter impersonation at the polls – the only type of election fraud a photo ID requirement could prevent – had occurred in Missouri, there was ample evidence it had not. Efforts to impose photo voter ID in this state remain nothing more than an attempt to disenfranchise certain Missourians under the guise of solving a nonexistent problem," he added.

Meanwhile, Congressman Roy Blunt praised the ruling. "By a convincing majority of six-to-three, the Supreme Court today affirmed a principle the American people have overwhelmingly supported for some time: asking citizens to produce a simple form of identification before voting is neither unreasonable nor unconstitutional – and if it helps impede voter fraud, absolutely necessary to ensure the basic integrity of the democratic process," Blunt said in a statement.

Bond vs. Carnahan on Photo ID

At a Senate committee hearing today, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan told congressional lawmakers that requiring photo IDs for voters won't do much to stop voter fraud.

But Senator Kid Bond also testified that there's no evidence that requiring photo IDs would discourage anyone from voting.

Who's right?