Legislation making changes to Missouri elections is on its way to Gov. Mike Kehoe.
On Tuesday, the Missouri House passed House Bill 1871 by a 101-47 vote to give it final approval.
The proposal is sponsored by State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, who spent decades overseeing elections in Carroll County. She said the bill will allow provisional ballots to be counted in municipal elections as well as federal and state elections.
“Which has been a really good thing for Missouri to allow people whose identity is not clear on election day to be able to vote a provisional ballot,” McGaugh said before the final vote. “The election authorities didn’t want to turn people away in April elections.”
The bill would also allow local precincts to ban electioneering within 50 feet of a polling place – instead of the current 25 feet. And it would spare election workers from having to count write-in votes for people not running as write-in candidates.
“People write in silly things,” McGaugh said. “They write in ‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Donald Duck’ and ‘Jesus Christ.’ So that wastes the team that comes in to count write-ins, that wastes their time.”
Her bill does not restore Missouri’s presidential primaries. That proposal is in a separate bill that’s waiting for a Missouri Senate vote.
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