ACLU of Missouri Archives

Missouri court hears lawsuit again about mail-in voting law

July 8, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum is considering a lawsuit designed to let all Missouri voters cast a ballot by mail this year without a notarized signature. The NAACP of Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri are suing the state and contend that a new law requiring some voters to get a notary could put their health and the health of others at risk during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Missouri court hears lawsuit again about mail-in voting law

Beetum dismissed the case in May and said the groups did not state a claim. He went on to say they are trying to get widespread absentee voting for all future elections. The case was then appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and the high court reversed Beetum’s decision. It said the groups actually stated a claim.

Plaintiffs want the court to block the notarization requirement in Senate Bill 631. Under the plan, all registered Missouri voters can mail in their ballot this year, if requested, and the ballot envelope must be notarized.

Absentee voters can cast a ballot without a notary if:

Incapacitated or confined due to illness
Having contracted the coronavirus or at-risk due to the following:
*Age 65 or older
*Immunocompromised
*Living in a long term care facility
*Diabetes
*Chronic lung disease/asthma
*Serious heart condition
*Liver disease *Chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis

All other absentee voters will be required to get a notary.

The governor has signed an executive order allowing electronic notarization.

The key witness for the plaintiffs, Dr. Hilary Babcock, a medical professor from Washington University in St. Louis, says the safest way to vote is not to leave home and instead vote by mail. But she says getting ballots authorized through a notary is safer than voting in person. If voters use public transportation to get to the polls, Babcock says those voters increase the chances of getting the virus.

Arguing for the state, Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer, raised the point that some notaries already have a porch or window-separated notary option. He also questioned Babcock about using safety measures while voting in person. Babcock says using social distance, frequent hand washing and wearing masks could help to minimize the risks of getting the virus. But she says they are not as safe as staying confined.

Today’s court hearing came with some technical glitches, causing the hearing to last more than three hours. Plaintiffs used a video conference platform to dial into the hearing. Understanding what they were sometimes saying did not always come easy. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office represented the state in-person.

Beetum could rule on the case at any time. Missouri’s primary election is on August 4.

Missouri’s governor signs major crime legislation into law

July 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Sweeping legislation aimed at cracking down on violent crime was signed into law late Monday afternoon by Missouri’s governor in Jefferson City.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 6, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson (R) announced that he would sign Senate Bill 600 during his media briefing with Capitol reporters. He describes the bill as a large step toward safety and justice for communities.

Critics say it will cause Missouri to have to build two new prisons.

The bill updates Missouri’s law involving the offense of conspiracy, a point emphasized by the governor during today’s press conference. Parson says that under current law, a person cannot be convicted of an offense based upon a conspiracy to commit it unless the person committed an overt act.

“This allows law enforcement and prosecutors to hold individuals accountable that plan criminal enterprises. This bill also includes other key provisions to help address violent crime,” Parson tells reporters.

The bill creates mandatory prison sentences for several violent crimes, and creates a new offense of vehicle hijacking. That provision was a priority for State Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, and for Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R).

Onder testified before a legislative committee in February, saying there were 351 carjackings in St. Louis City in 2019.

“These are violent crimes in which Missourians are terrorized in what should be a safe sanctuary, their cars,” Onder testified that day.

He noted during his February testimony that there was no uniform sentencing in Missouri for carjacking. Some suspects are charged with robbery, while he said others are charged with stealing and are being sentenced to just four months in prison.

The bill also establishes the Missouri criminal street gangs prevention act, which Governor Parson says modernizes the approach to prosecuting criminal gangs.

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, sponsored the House bill. Schroer tweeted Monday that the legislation is “a bipartisan approach that will help make Missouri safer.”

Critics of the bill include Americans for Prosperity-Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri.

“Governor Parson’s commitment to signing SB 600 is shortsighted. We know that crime bills like this one exacerbate racial inequalities and fuel mass incarceration with no actual improvement to public safety,” ACLU of Missouri policy director Sara Baker says, in a statement.

Baker says the bill “tears money away from public education and services proven to decrease crime.”

The bill is also opposed by Americans for Prosperity-Missouri (AFP-MO), which predicts the law will increase Missouri’s prison population by 2,500 and will cause two new prisons to be built.

“Locking up more people does not result in safer neighborhoods, but rather harms taxpayers and needlessly rips families and communities apart,” AFP-MO state director Jeremy Cady says, in a statement. Cady says it will cost $500 million to build the new prisons.

With the governor’s signature, the new law will take effect on August 28.

Missouri Supreme Court sending absentee voting case back to Cole County Circuit Court

June 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Supreme Court issued a decision on Tuesday involving absentee voting, ruling that a lawsuit that aims to allow all Missourians to cast absentee ballots without notarization in 2020 can proceed.

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George Draper takes notes on June 15, 2020, while listening to oral arguments in the absentee voting case (photo courtesy of Missouri Supreme Court communications counsel Beth Riggert)

The Supreme Court is sending the case back to Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem. The decision means the lawsuit from the NAACP of Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri can proceed.

The circuit court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The Supreme Court reversed that decision, finding the plaintiffs had stated a claim and remanded the case to the circuit court so the parties can proceed.

The organizations filed a lawsuit in mid-Missouri’s Cole County, challenging the constitutional validity of absentee voting legislation that was approved by the Missouri Legislature on the final day of session in May.

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed the legislation from State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, in June. It expands voting by mail through the rest of 2020. There are two but separate options under the bill.

The first option has been non-controversial, and is not part of the lawsuit. That option expands absentee voting to those 65 and older, or who are vulnerable to COVID-19. Elderly people are considered at greater risk. Under the bill, notarization is not required for those 65 and older or who are vulnerable.

The second option is the key part of the lawsuit. It expands voting by mail for everyone in 2020, but requires notarization.

The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on June 15.

During those oral arguments, Sophia Lin Lakin, who argued the case, told the Supreme Court that requiring some voters to get a notary could put their health and the health of others at risk, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“SB 631 still requires voters whom the Legislature did not deem at-risk for COVID or those caring for others who may be at risk, to comply with the notary requirement in order to vote by mail,” Lakin argued on June 15.

But state Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who represents the state attorney general’s office and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, disputed that.

“A bad flu season does involve tens of thousands of deaths nationwide,” Sauer told the Supreme Court last week. “But nobody has ever contended that fear of contracting or spreading the flu is a statutory ground to cast an absentee ballot in Missouri.”

Sauer also argued in court that the NAACP and the League of Women Voters lack associational standing in this case.

Lin Lakin praises Tuesday’s ruling, saying “this decision is a big victory for Missouri voters.”

Click here to read the 73-page legal brief from the NAACP of Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri and others.

Click here to read the 85-page legal brief from state Solicitor General D. John Sauer.