The Missouri Association for Social Welfare (MASW) opposes both HB 1073 and HJR 47 because we believe the right to vote will be suppressed, especially in two populations.
Forty percent of Missouri households have annual incomes of less than $31,000. The federal poverty level is outdated and does not measure the true cost of living accurately, but officially 16 percent of Missourians live in poverty. Getting a photo ID can be almost impossible for persons with no discretionary income, little access to transportation, and long distances between themselves and sites where IDs can be obtained.
Also, it is very difficult for a person who is transgender to get a photo ID that matches their current gender. Those who cannot afford surgery often have no access to an ID that accurately reflects the name and gender by which they are now known. Do we have “liberty and justice for all” if persons with very low incomes, including persons who are transgender, experience barriers to voting?
Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director
MASW
St. Louis