Imagine going to jail because you bought volunteers registering people to vote a pizza.
“The NAACP has long raised concerns about Missouri’s efforts to implement a discriminatory voter ID law, and it is one of the reasons we have issued a travel advisory for the state. Democracy in Missouri is not a safe place for Black voters.”
The Missouri NAACP and League of Women Voters have filed a pair of lawsuits against the state of Missouri alleging that new restrictions violate the fundamental right to vote and equal protection under the Missouri Constitution.
The first suit challenges voter identification requirements under recently passed House Bill 1878. The second, filed on Monday, block provisions restricting voter registration activity and distribution of absentee ballot applications.
“We will do everything in our power to make sure the rights of Missouri voters are restored, and everyone can have their vote counted,” Nimrod Chapel, Jr., president of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP said in a release.
“The NAACP has long raised concerns about Missouri’s efforts to implement a discriminatory voter ID law, and it is one of the reasons we have issued a travel advisory for the state. Democracy in Missouri is not a safe place for Black voters.”
The National NAACP is also involved in protection of voting rights in Missouri.
“Missouri’s new voter ID law would prevent some people from using identification that they have used for decades when voting,” said Janette McCarthy Wallace, NAACP general counsel.
“It would disproportionately affect people of color and prevent lawfully registered voters from casting ballots. The nonpartisan NAACP has always existed, in part, to challenge such attempts to disenfranchise Black voters.”
Marilyn McLeod, president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri, said “The League believes the state should be making it easier, not harder, for Missourians to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
“There’s no evidence of voter impersonation in Missouri, so these extreme restrictions don’t make our elections any safer or more secure.”
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri, “The law is so vague that simply offering reimbursement for parking or pizza to volunteers could put organizations at risk of violating the law.”
The law also prohibits “soliciting” a voter into obtaining an absentee ballot application, which denies eligible Missourians the help they need to vote in a secure and convenient way.
“These new restrictions limiting voter registration and absentee ballot assistance will add further detriment to Missouri’s election process which is already ripe with deeply rooted systemic barriers that impede access to the ballot of marginalized communities,” said Luz María Henríquez, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri.
“Registering voters, at its core, is political speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. Rather than enacting legislation to encourage and increase participation in the democratic process, the politicians in Jefferson City pass laws that criminalize voter engagement and mobilization efforts.”
Absent court action, H.B. 1878’s changes to Missouri’s election laws will be in effect for the November 8 general election, creating deliberate barriers to voter registration and absentee voting which will be most acute in communities of color.
The restrictions on civic engagement organizations threaten their ability to hold community-based voter engagement events, obtain and retain volunteers to assist voters and chill their constitutionally protected political speech.
