UPDATE II- VICTORY!: MO Bid To Disenfranchise 300,000 Down To The Wire!
By Nathan Henderson-James
Partisan efforts to keep up to 300,000 eligible Missouri citizens, mostly progressive-leaning voters from elderly and low-income demographics but also including such large blocks as married women, permanently off the voting rolls are coming to a head in the Missouri Senate today as the Legislature prepares to adjourn. Measures not passed by that time will die, pending the Governor calling a special session.
Voting rights and progressive activists, led by Missourians for Fair Elections are fighting back and report an extremely tough but increasingly winnable fight against what the Kansas City Star is calling a "real deception...being perpetrated by legislators, whose claims of fraud are driving what appears to be a political agenda".
Robin Carnahan, Missouri's Secretary of State, and an opponent of the measure, HJR 48 - which would amend Missouri's constitution to require proof of citizenship to register and vote, will be holding a press conference today in Kansas City to point out the partisan agenda behind this measure.
As previously reported in these diaries from last Friday, Monday, and yesterday, Missouri politicians are pushing a measure to change the state constitution to allow strict voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements. This was prompted by a 2006 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that struck down a strict voter ID bill as unconstitutional.
Local Missouri activists expect that Secretary of State Carnahan will emphasize the following points in her press conference today:
*Missourians have already been through this in 2006 and our identification requirements in Missouri are fine, and they work – we have
fair elections without fraud and people are allowed to vote. There’s no need to take the drastic step of altering our constitution just so that restrictive measures that suppress votes can be imposed on voters.*In 2006, a more restrictive photo ID law was passed that was ruled unconstitutional because it was a burden and poll tax on voters, so now the Republicans just want to change the constitution to strip away voting rights protections.
Reports from officials with Missourians for Fair Elections suggest that the field work and wave of publicity and editorials from across the state are having the effect of exposing the partisan nature of this campaign while putting pressure on Senate leadership to refuse to consider the measure before the Senate adjourns.
Using flyers and door-to-door canvasses to generate on-the-spot calls to specific legislators, MFE has been able to to generate an unprecedented number of calls on this issue, which seem to be limiting the number of Senators willing to stop a potential filibuster of this measure and facilitating the disenfranchisement of poor, elderly, and low-income citizens.
For more information on this urgent work and how you can get invovled, contact Missourians for Fair Elections at mofairelections@gmail.com or 314-363-5571.
UPDATE: Members of the Missouri Catholic community have expressed grave concerns that citizens in the state, including religious sisters, will be unjustly denied their right to vote if this misguided bill passes. The Sisters of Mercy released a public statement today:
"We are deeply concerned that legislation of this kind has severe unintended consequences that present substantial barriers for all citizens to exercise their political and moral responsibilities. We strongly urge all citizens in Missouri to contact their representatives and ask them to vote against this measure," said Sr. Jane Hotstream, RSM, president of the St. Louis Regional Community of the Sisters of Mercy.
UPDATE II - VICTORY!
Below is the press release from Missourians for Fair Elections celebrating the failure of HJR 48 and its photo ID and proof of citizenship requirements.
MFE has been tireless in their opposition to this voter disenfranchisement effort. Their work featured an innovative phone and field program that generated literally thousands of calls from voter who identified as both Democrats and Republicans to important legislators in opposition to this measure.
They were also able to generate blanket media coverage in the state and important progressive media on the national stage. All the major and many of the minor newspapers in the state editorialized against the proposed amendment.
The combined that work with inside work in Jefferson City contacting elected officials directly about the measure and pressing their opposition to it.
And it all paid off as HJR 48 failed to be called for a vote before the session ended at 6PM CDT today.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 16, 2008
Contact: Laura Egerdal, Missourians for Fair Elections, 314-363-5571
Julie Terbrock, Missourians for Fair Elections, 314-660-3843Proposed Photo ID Legislation Failed
Constitutional Change to Restrict Voting Rights Faced Groundswell of Opposition from Across the StateJEFFERSON CITY, MO – In a victory for all voters, Missouri lawmakers ended this year’s legislative session without a final vote on legislation that could have prevented up to 240,000 Missourians from voting. The proposed change would have altered Missouri’s constitution, allowing for strict citizenship and government-issued photo ID requirements that would make Missouri one of the toughest states in the country for eligible, law-abiding citizens to register to vote or cast a ballot.
"I am relieved that I will be able to vote this fall," said Lillie Lewis, a St. Louis city resident, "I’ve been voting in every election since I can remember, but if I needed my birth certificate, that would be the end
of that. I hope this is the last we hear of this nonsense." Lillie Lewis was born in Mississippi, but the state sent her a letter stating they have no record of her birth.Birdell Owen, a Missouri resident who was displaced by hurricane Katrina, also voiced her relief. "I should be able to participate in my democracy," she said, "even if Louisiana can’t get me a copy of my birth certificate. I’m glad Missouri politicians had the sense to protect my right to vote."
As the bill began to move, a broad coalition of groups and voters across the state worked to educate citizens and legislators about the negative impact of such policy changes on real voters. Missourians for Fair Elections reports over 4,200 calls were made to lawmakers in the past two weeks urging them to not consider this legislation. Catholic organizations, such as the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary, and the
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas issued statements voicing deep concerns with the legislation. The AARP, League of Women Voters, labor organizations, disability advocates, community organizations and progressive leaders worked around the clock for the past two weeks to make sure the concerns of Missouri voters were heard.In 2006, despite serious opposition from voting rights experts, election officials and voters, the Missouri legislature passed an overly-restrictive photo ID measure that was later found unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court because it amounted to a poll tax and Missouri’s current identification requirements are sufficient. This year’s proposed legislation would have altered the constitution in an attempt to allow restrictive voting laws to pass constitutional muster. Such restrictive laws include government-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship requirements to register to vote and to vote.
Kathleen Weinschenk, of Columbia, Missouri, has been fighting to protect her right to vote, and that of others, since 2006. She has cerebral palsy, and doesn’t drive because of her disability. Without a birth certificate from Arkansas, she cannot get a Missouri photo ID. Kathleen is elated that the constitution will not be changed to prohibit her from voting. "Today, freedom rings," she said.
