Voting rights

‘It gave us information that we couldn’t have received any other way’: Local officials worry about Election Day problems, especially for voters who have recently moved.

The Missouri Senate is considering proposed changes that would raise the bar for voters to pass a constitutional amendment — making it mathematically possible for just 20% of voters to determine the outcome of statewide ballot measures, including the upcoming one on abortion rights.

The Missouri House this week signed off on legislation that would require photo identification to cast a ballot.

Republican committee members claimed in the letter, without evidence, that the 2020 election featured "many discrepancies and issues with the election process in several states across this nation.”

There are more than 3,400 St. Louisans who cannot vote Tuesday in the city’s mayoral election because they have not yet completed their probation or parole term. Missouri activists and lawmakers are pushing to restore voting rights more quickly to formerly incarcerated people so they can participate in local and state elections.

As Missouri lawmakers contemplate laws making it harder to vote without a photo ID, 42 other states are considering more than 250 bills that would raise barriers to voting.

Over 62,000 people in Missouri will not be able to cast a vote in today’s presidential election because they are on probation or parole. Ex-offenders and activists are calling for lawmakers to quickly restore the voting rights of formerly incarcerated people, so they can elect people who will improve their communities.

Some Black voters in north St. Louis are worried that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, many older Black people will be discouraged from voting or have difficulty casting their ballots.

Brandon Reid remembers watching Barack Obama win the presidential election from his living room couch in 2008. Most of his friends had gone to the polls…