Securing Missouri elections is the top priority Denny Hoskins has for the Secretary of State’s office.
The state senator from Warrensburg is among eight Republicans running for Secretary of State in next week’s party primary. He laid out his priorities for overseeing elections in the Show-Me State in an interview with Missourinet.
“I believe that the most safe and secure elections are in person on Election Day with voter ID and paper ballot,” he said. “I also want to make sure that non-citizens don’t vote here in the state of Missouri, and then, no, I don’t trust the election machines. You know, currently in Puerto Rico, they had their primary election and they weren’t able to reconcile the paper ballots to the election machines.”
Hoskins also supports a proposed constitutional amendment that would mandate that “only U.S. citizens” can vote in Missouri. Although it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Missouri, he said state law is a bit unclear.
“It says all citizens can vote in the state of Missouri. It does not say only citizens,” he said. “Other states that have similar language in their constitution or in their statutes, such as Maryland, Vermont, California, they are allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections for city council, school board and things like that.”
Hoskins also strongly believes that the state should not rely on electronic voting machines.
“Well, I would say that any electronic device can always be hacked, and we’ve all been hacked before, whether it’s been our Apple Watch, our iPhone or Samsung phone, anything electronic can be hacked,” he said. “This last year, I filed a bill (in the Missouri Senate) to hand count ballots.”
He said he also wants to make it easier for businesses in Missouri to register as Limited Liability Corporations, or LLC’s.
Hoskins spent eight years in the Missouri House and is now in his final year as a State Senator. He’s a member of the Senate’s Freedom Caucus.
Other Republicans running for Missouri Secretary of State are Mary Elizabeth Coleman, Dean Plocher, Adam Schwadron, Shane Schoeller, Jamie Corley, Mike Carter, and Valentina Gomez. Three Democrats are running: Monique Williams, Barbara Phifer, and Haley Jacobson. Carl Herman Freese is the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State.
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