Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft Archives

Missouri expert: Reading the tea leaves early on election night will be challenging

November 2, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

In previous elections, Missouri counties posted absentee ballot results first. For Tuesday’s general election, that practice will vary from county to county. Columbia College Political Science Professor Terry Smith tells Missourinet the change presents a new challenge.

“It’s always quite informative – or has been – because absentee ballots get posted first. You can see trends in that ordinarily. The usual things that you rely on, we may not have those benchmarks like we usually do,” says Smith.

Dr. Terry Smith Columbia College

Missouri’s local election authorities have received more than 723,000 mail-in and absentee ballots so far for the general election – compared to 282,000 counted in 2016.

In central Missouri’s Boone County, where Smith resides, absentee ballots will be posted throughout the night.

“The old reliable markers aren’t going to be available for people like me who want to try to read the tea leaves a little bit early in the night,” says Smith.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft expects about 70% of Missouri’s voters to cast a ballot in the general election.

Polling locations are open statewide from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you can still vote.

“We will not release any votes until all of our polling locations are closed,” says Ashcroft. “We want everyone to know that if you voted at 6 o’ clock in the morning or if you voted exactly at 7 o’ clock – or anywhere in between – your vote counts equally.”

Voters can still cast an absentee ballot in-person at their local election authority until 5 p.m. today.

Missourinet’s live election night coverage begins at 8:05 p.m. on many of our affiliates and on Missourinet.com. We will also have updates on our Facebook page.

Missouri secretary of state predicts 70% voter turnout for general election

October 30, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says he expects about a 70% voter turnout for the general election. In 2016, Missouri had about a 67% voter turnout.

Local election authorities project their jurisdiction’s voter turnout and then Ashcroft’s office compiles a statewide estimate.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (file photo courtesy of the Secretary of State’s office)

“And this year, at best, it’s going to be a guess because we’ve never had a year like 2020 in any of our lifetimes,” says Ashcroft.

He thinks about 15% to 20% of Missouri voters have already voted. Ashcroft, a Republican, says the state’s local election authorities have received more than 628,000 absentee and mail-in ballots combined so far. Due to the pandemic, mail-in ballots are being offered this year only.

“I’m hoping, fingers crossed, that because of the changes in the law and because of all the information we’ve put out there, we will see a resounding increase in voter turnout. But, I’ve been disappointed before when I’ve thought that,” says Ashcroft.

According to the Secretary of State’s website, about 282,000 Missouri absentee ballots were counted in 2016.

Dozens of Missouri counties have purchased pens for each voter on Tuesday, because of COVID worries

October 29, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Southwest Missouri’s Greene County is among the growing number of counties that have purchased pens for each voter in their county for Tuesday, due to COVID reasons.

Lincoln County Clerk Crystal Hall, the Missouri Association of County Clerks president, tells Missourinet that dozens of Missouri counties have purchased pens for their voters on Tuesday. The reason is so each voter has their own voting pen that no one else has touched on Tuesday.

Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, a former Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem, says his office has purchased 150,000 pens. Greene County, which includes Springfield, is one of the largest counties in the state.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office distributed $4.5 million this year to local election authorities, to provide funding for them to meet their jurisdiction’s individual needs. Greene and Lincoln counties used some of their funding for the pens. Other counties have used their funds for additional personal protective equipment (PPE), due to COVID.

Secretary Ashcroft and his staff have delivered about 17,000 face masks, 17,000 face shields and 500 gallons of sanitizer to clerks across the state.

The Secretary of State’s office says more than 628,000 mail-in and absentee ballots have been returned to local election authorities, as of Tuesday.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day, which is Tuesday.

Missourians need to bring ID to polling locations

October 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri voters must bring one form of ID with them to the polls next Tuesday, for the November election.

That can include your voter ID card from your county clerk’s office, a government-issued photo ID like a driver’s license, or a current utility bill or bank statement. It can also include a paycheck.

If you don’t have an ID, you can still cast a provisional ballot.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R), who campaigned on a platform of photo ID in 2016, expressed disappointment in May that a photo ID requirement was stripped out of a final absentee ballot bill.

Missouri polling locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.

Missouri county clerks focusing on PPE for November election (AUDIO)

October 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

County clerks across Missouri have been gearing up for the November 3rd presidential election, with some hiring temporary workers to handle the influx of absentee and mail-in ballots.

Missouri Association of County Clerks president Crystal Hall, who serves as the clerk in eastern Missouri’s Lincoln County, says most clerks have enough poll workers and staffers.

“There’s not one county that is in desperate need that I’m aware of that haven’t been able to find the staffing that they need for the election,” Hall says.

Missouri’s secretary of state says a combined total of about 424,000 absentee and mail-in ballots have been received by local election authorities.

Ms. Hall is thanking Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) this year to all 116 election jurisdictions. Ashcroft’s office also distributed about $4.5 million this year to local election authorities, to provide funding for them to meet their jurisdiction’s individual needs.

Hall has purchased special pens for each registered voter in her county, for COVID reasons.

“So instead of having that one pen that’s hanging on the chain that everybody that comes in there (clerk’s office) touches, you’re going to have your own pen that no one else has touched,” says Hall.

Hall also tells Missourinet that FFA high school students in Lincoln County will be cleaning machines all day long, to keep voters safe in November.

Secretary Ashcroft and his staff have delivered about 17,000 face masks, 17,000 face shields and 500 gallons of sanitizer to the clerks across the state.

Fast-growing Lincoln County is located just north of St. Charles County. Towns include Troy, Elsberry and Foley. There is no mask mandate in Lincoln County, so Hall is encouraging poll workers to wear a mask. Her staff has also installed plexiglass barriers between voters and election workers.

The county clerks association says you can expect long lines at the polls for the November election. Ms. Hall says while election judges and pollworkers are paid, they’re essentially volunteers. She notes many are elderly and will be working long hours on election day, from 6 a.m. until at least 7 p.m.

“They’re working through this because they care about our community and our country, and they’re doing their patriotic duty to help,” Hall says, urging voters to be patient and kind.

If voters are in line by 7 p.m. on election night, they are still allowed to vote.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Lincoln County Clerk Crystal Hall, who’s president of the Missouri Association of County Clerks. The interview was recorded on October 21, 2020:

Missouri Supreme Court hears notary requirement arguments; no word on when court will rule

October 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Supreme Court heard remote oral arguments on Tuesday afternoon in an appeal that aims to remove a notary requirement for mail-in voting for the November general election.

In April, the Missouri NAACP, the League of Women Voters and three registered voters sued the state, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) and others, arguing that the steps to vote by mail during a pandemic are unconstitutional.

The Missouri NAACP and its ACLU attorneys say Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem erroneously upheld the notarization requirement, and they also express concern about a scarcity of notaries.

Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer disagrees with that. Counselor Sauer argued on behalf of the state and Secretary Ashcroft.

“The trial court (Cole County circuit court) pointed out that there are, even on plaintiff’s calculation, there are 44,000 notaries in the state of Missouri available to notarize absentee ballots. And there are hundreds of notaries in the secretary of state’s volunteer program,” Sauer tells the court.

He says invalidating the notary requirement is not realistic because voting by mail began on September 22. He says changing the rules midway through the process would subject Missouri voters to different legal requirements during the same election cycle.

Sauer also says invalidating the notary requirement would require reprinting of absentee and mail-in ballot envelopes across Missouri.

The ACLU disagrees with Sauer. They also say that the Cole County circuit court committed multiple errors and erroneously upheld a notarization requirement that imposes burdens on Missourians who are seeking to vote during a global pandemic.

ACLU Foundation attorney Sophia Lin Lakin argued the case on Tuesday.

“No voters will be subjected to different standards here. All voters would exercise their fundamental right under the same standard: having their ballots counted regardless of notarization,” Lin Lakin tells the court.

Some physicians and epidemiologists have filed as friends of the court. They say requiring voters to have absentee ballots notarized present unavoidable increased risks of transmitting the virus that causes COVID.

The ACLU also says Judge Beetem has misapplied a federal case that’s never been applied in Missouri.

There is no word on when the Missouri Supreme Court will rule. One of the questions the Supreme Court is considering is whether the Cole County circuit court failed to consider evidence of burdens associated with requiring ballots to be notarized.

Missouri lawmakers approved the legislation on the final day of session in May. House Democrats were successful in having a photo ID provision removed, in a compromise with Republicans. The legislation from State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, has two but separate options.

The first expands absentee voting to those 65 and older, or who are vulnerable to COVID-19, such as elderly residents. Notarization is not required for those 65 and older or who are vulnerable.

The second option expands voting by mail for everyone, but requires notarization.

Click here to read the 128-page brief from the Missouri NAACP, League of Women Voters, ACLU and others.

Click here to read the 121-page brief from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office, from Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

Absentee voting begins in Missouri for November election

September 23, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Local election authorities have begun mailing out ballots to Missourians who have requested to vote absentee by mail in the General Election. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is traveling around Missouri this week to share what the different voting options are for November.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (file photo courtesy of the Secretary of State’s office)

“The election authorities did a great job of printing all those ballots out in a very short time, having them checked by the candidates and then having them ready to send out,” he says.

Ashcroft tells Missourinet voters must return their absentee ballot in-person or by mail to their local election authority by 7 p.m. on November 3.

Some election authorities might see increased foot traffic. Missouri voters can now also cast an absentee ballot in-person until November 2 at 5 p.m.

“Election authorities have been preparing how to do in-person voting differently this year via in-person on Election Day or in-person absentee voting not on Election Day since our Presidential Preference Primary,” says Ashcroft. “We’ve learned from that election. We’ve learned from our general municipal election that came after that. We learned from our August primary.”

The deadline to register to vote is October 7.

Ashcroft says the deadline to request an absentee or mail-in ballot is October 21, but he strongly encourages Missourians not to wait until the last minute to ask for one. He expects mail delays that could cause some ballots to not get counted.

“Since June, we’ve been asking voters, if they are going to mail back a ballot – either absentee or mail-in – to leave at least two weeks,” says Ashcroft. “We want it to be easy to vote and we want your vote to count. I don’t want people to treat this like a term paper they may have done in high school where they waited until the last minute,” he says. “I want the people of the state to know that it’s easy to vote, they have their options. But I want them to do it quickly so that we make sure that their vote counts and it’s part of the final outcome.”

Voters must have their absentee ballot notarized if:
•Absent from your county on Election Day
•You are an election worker
•Your religious beliefs prevent you from voting on Election Day
•You are in jail but still eligible to vote
•You participate in Missouri’s address confidentiality program

Voters do not need a notarized absentee ballot if:
•You are either incapacitated or confined “due to illness or physical disability” or you are the primary caregiver of someone who is
•Have COVID-19 or are at-risk of getting the virus due to:
•Age 65 or older
•Live in a long term care center
•Have chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
•Have a serious heart condition
•Have diabetes
•Immunocompromised
•Have chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis
•Have liver disease

For those using this year’s mail-in voting option, your ballot must be notarized and returned by U.S. Mail only. Local election authorities must receive your ballot by 7 p.m. on November 3.

Ashcroft has secured 25,000 face masks to be delivered to local election authorities for the November 3 General Election. Patriot Medical Devices, located in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau, is supplying the masks. The Secretary of State has also requested 1,050 gallons and 5,600 (8-oz.) bottles of hand sanitizer from St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch. The brewing company is making and donating more than eight million ounces of sanitizer to U.S. polling locations.

“I believe that this November election will be the safest November election we’ve ever had in Missouri because we’ve always had some respiratory illnesses but we’ve never been anywhere near the approach we’ve taken this year to protect people,” says Ashcroft.

Polls will be open statewide from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

You can review the requirements here.

Federal lawsuit filed in response to Missouri’s remote voting law

September 18, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

A new federal lawsuit asks a judge to make Missouri’s mail-in voting process easier in an effort to avoid excluding some voters from the November election – and during the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Missouri Faith Voices and other groups are involved in the lawsuit. It targets Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and the state’s 116 local election authorities.

Federal lawsuit filed in response to Missouri’s remote voting law

The lawsuit criticizes how Missouri’s mail-in voters are required to mail their notarized ballots back to the election board but people who vote absentee can drop off their ballots in-person. It goes on to say the state law does not include basic procedural safeguards to prevent the denial of mail and absentee ballots.

“Missouri allows absentee and mail ballots to be rejected for minor errors not material to the voter’s eligibility and fails to ensure voters have opportunities to correct errors or omissions on their ballot envelope statement. Eligible voters can have their ballot rejected without notice or opportunity to cure defects—and may never learn their vote was not counted. While some jurisdictions attempt to alert voters to such deficiencies, there are no required procedural protections prior to rejecting a voter’s mail ballot, leaving many Missourians no means to cure ballot envelope statements without having to travel to their local board of elections in person. These burdens on the right to vote already disenfranchised scores of voters during the August 2020 elections, including first-time voters, Black and brown voters, and older voters, some of whom were quarantined in senior living facilities,” a press release says.

Maura Browning with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office says it does not comment on ongoing legal matters but says the state has already held three successful elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To view the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District, click here.

Bipartisan group of Missouri election officials say more funding is needed for November (AUDIO)

September 4, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri county clerks in both parties say they need additional funding to protect voters and poll workers during the November general election.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon is a Columbia Democrat (photo courtesy of the Boone County Clerk’s website)

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon, a Columbia Democrat, notes November will be a high turnout election during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says county clerks have had unexpected costs.

“Having to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) and make modifications to our polling places so that voters can have a safe experience,” Lennon says.

Lennon says funding is also needed to inform the public about changes made to election procedures this November.

The Missouri Legislature made the changes in May, for the August primary and November general election. Absentee voting without notarization is allowed for Missourians 65 and older, or those vulnerable to COVID. All others can vote by mail if they choose, but need notarization.

“Making sure that voters understand the process, and making sure that they have all the knowledge that they need to make an informed decision about the option that they want to choose in order to vote,” says Lennon.

Lennon says making sure Missouri has good and accessible elections with integrity is critical.

A national organization called the Brennan Center says CARES Act funding provided to Missouri isn’t enough to safely administer November elections. They want Congress to approve more funding.

As for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R), he notes that since early May, he’s distributed $4.5 million to local election authorities, to prepare for the recent August primary and the upcoming November general election. His office has also recently shipped 4,900 additional face masks to county clerks.

Ashcroft visited all 116 Missouri election jurisdictions this summer, delivering 17,000 face masks, 17,000 face shields, 500 gallons of sanitizer and other supplies. Brennon says while clerks are grateful for the funding from the secretary of state’s office, they need more money for November.

“We have plexiglass shields that we have at each of our polling locations and we had to account for our larger number of polling places that we’re going to have for November,” Lennon says.

Lennon and GOP Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, a former Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem, are among the clerks in both parties calling on Congress to approve additional funding to ensure safe elections in 2020.

Schoeller recently co-authored an op-ed in “Politico”, saying more than $50,000 is needed in Greene County, just to recruit additional election judges and compensate all election judges with hazard pay.

Election day is Tuesday November 3.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon, which was recorded on September 3, 2020:

Missouri Democrats want Parson to address expected mail-in ballot delay

August 18, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The U.S. Postal Service has notified the Missouri Secretary of State that it might not be able to deliver all mail-in ballots by Election Day in November – possibly leaving some votes uncounted. In a letter, the postal service says Missouri’s law allowing voters to request a ballot by October 21 could be pushing it. The agency recommends that voters who choose to mail their ballots do so no later than October 27 – one week before the November 3 election.

Rep. Kip Kendrick

Under Missouri law, election authorities need to receive a mail-in ballot by 7 p.m. on Election Day in order for it to be counted. State Representative Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, wants ballots to count if they are postmarked by Election Day. During a press conference today outside of the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, Kendrick says Gov. Mike Parson should expand the current special legislative session to change the law.

“It’s important more than ever that Missourians voices are heard,” says Kendrick. “And this is a simple way – this is a simple change in statute that we can make sure to address this issue and hopefully stem some of this dismantling – the effects of dismantling the U.S.P.S right here in Missouri. Missourians deserve it and democracy demands it.”

Democrats allege that President Donald Trump is working to financially strain the postal service and has removed 600 mail sorting machines in order to prevent an expected surge in mail-in voting during COVID-19. There have been talks for a while that Trump is trying to privatize the agency.

Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove

State Representative Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, expressed her frustration about Trump.

“I am disappointed that the person who swore an oath to protect our great country has openly claimed war on the most fundamental aspect of our democracy – voting. The legislation we are proposing to change was written when you could rely on the mail being on time,” she says. “The literal removal of processing machines would logically mean that that standard too should change.”

Kendrick has written a letter to Parson requesting the governor to act:

“For several reasons, it is imperative that we do all that we can do to uphold the integrity of the election process in Missouri. These reasons include the admission by President Trump on August 13, 2020, that he intends to continue underfunding the United States Postal Service in order to purposely interfere with absentee voting; developments suggesting a systematic dismantling of the United States Postal Service is currently underway; and the admission by Dr. Randall Williams, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, in testimony this week to the Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention that he expects COVID-19 case numbers to continue to rise into the fall,” the letter says.

Yinka Faleti

“This move would go a long way to ensure that all Missouri voters, regardless of political affiliation, will have their vote counted this November. It is unacceptable that election integrity is in doubt at the moment, and it is even more unacceptable for our state to not take proactive measures to protect the vote,” Kendrick says.

Why legislative action instead of an executive order? The Democratic candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, Yinka Faleti, says a short-term fix is not good enough.

“What we’re asking for is not something done in hodge podge or something done temporarily,” he says. “We’re asking for a permanent fix to a permanent problem. Missouri voters deserve to have their voices heard. As an immigrant-American, I chose to be an American citizen. And so, I didn’t automatically have the right to vote. I had to earn it. As an Army veteran, I fought to protect it.”

Faleti alleges that his November opponent, Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, was not upfront about the letter from the U.S. Postal Service warning Ashcroft of the likely delay. He says Ashcroft did not let local election authorities know about the agency letter.

“Ashcroft’s silence is deafening, derelict, and dangerous to democracy. He is unworthy of our trust,” Faleti says.

Ashcroft spokeswoman Maura Browning says the Secretary of State did not share the letter with local election authorities but says he has been talking about this problem for two months. On June 16, Browning says Ashcroft discussed the issue with some county clerks and the Urban Board – Missouri’s larger election jurisdictions.

She says the office received the letter from the USPS on Aug. 4. For the last two weeks, Browning says election officials have been busy certifying their own election results and many of them have also been trying to verify signatures from the Kanye West presidential candidate request filing.

“Our office will provide as much support as local election officials need to promote early absentee and mail-in applications and encourage voters to send their ballots early,” she says.

During a statewide flyover in July, Ashcroft made nine stops to talk about the temporary 2020 voting options. At each stop, Browning says he stressed to have voters apply early for absentee and mail-in ballots, and to turn them in right away.

Gov. Parson’s office says at this time, the governor has no plans to expand the special session any further. His office says Parson’s focus has been and continues to be on violent crime.