The
Rector ReportIt is vital in a Representative Republic that the elections be fair and honest. The “Missouri Voter Protection Act” helps insure this. It enhances the election process in our state by cracking down on election fraud, reforming voter registration and extending provisional ballots to all ballot issues.
Beginning with the November 2008 election, all voters will be required to present a photo I.D. before casting a ballot. The next two years will serve as a bridge to allow voters time to get a photo I.D. if they do not already have one.
If you currently have any of the following forms of photo
identification, you are not required to obtain any additional form of
I.D.:
A non-expired non-driver’s or driver’s license with a photographic or
digital image;
A non-expiring military ID with a photographic or digital image;
Or a document issued by the US or the state of Missouri that has your
name, your photographic or digital image and has not expired before the
date of the most recent general election.
More than 95 percent of Missourians already have an acceptable form
of photo identification. For those who do not, a free I.D. may be
obtained for voting purposes. Anyone needing a state issued
non-driver I.D. may now obtain one at any fee office. People who
need photo identification simply sign a document at the fee office
declaring that he or she has no other form of photographic personal
identification that meets the requirements of the “Missouri Voter
Protection Act.”
Additionally, people may obtain the necessary I.D. at temporary
mobile locations that will travel across the state. One such unit will
be at Foxwood Springs Living Center in Raymore
on September 18, 2006 beginning at 9 A.M. The address is 1500
W. Foxwood Springs Drive. There will be another unit in Butler on
September 25, 2006 at the Butler Senior Center,
at 9 A.M. If you intend to visit one of these sites to get
your identification rather that going to a fee office, call the
Department of Revenue in advance at 573-526-3606 or 573-526-3912 and
give them your name, Social Security Number and date of birth. The
mobile units will remain at these locations only long enough to process
those who have made prior arrangements. Walk-ins will need to arrive as
near 9 A.M. as possible.
There are three permanent exemptions to furnishing a photo I.D. at
the polls:
1. citizens who were born on or before January 1, 1941;
2. anyone homebound because of physical or mental disabilities and cast
an absentee ballot, just as they could before this new law; (Please note
that anyone who is physically or mentally disabled and votes at their
polling place will need a photo I.D.);
3. those with a sincere religious objection.
These people may cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots will be
counted once election officials from both political parties
verify the signature.
In the event a voter does not bring a photo I.D. to the poll, they
may sign an affidavit and still cast a provisional ballot. Once election
officials from both political parties verify the signature on the
provisional ballot, it is counted. This provision also gives those who
do not meet any of the three permanent exemptions until November 1,
2008 to obtain proper photo identification.
It is well documented that voter fraud has been a recent
problem in Missouri. In 2004, an audit by the St. Louis City Election
Board identified more than 24,000 questionable registrations in St.
Louis. Similar problems have been found in elections prior to 2004.
In 2000, at least 1,500 fraudulent ballots were cast in the St. Louis
area including 14 dead people who voted. Our votes count less when
people who do not exist or people who vote more than once are counted.
A Representative Republic can only function properly when elections are fair and honest. The “Missouri Voter Protection Act” will help insure this. The legislature worked hard to insure that every Missourian who is eligible to vote, will be able to vote