But adjournment looms next Friday, and Republican Senate leadership had already demonstrated that they are willing to use parliamentary maneuvers to quash a filibuster and force a vote without any concessions to Democrats. If the state does not budget money for that, election authorities would be barred from enforcing it.
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“It very much gives me ugly reminders of the Jim Crow day”, said Springfield NAACP President Cheryl Clay.
It quickly became the most contentious issue of the 2016 session.
“It’s not only poor African-Americans, it’s poor people in general across our cities”, Clay said.
To address that, this year’s legislation directs the state to pay for one birth certificate or other document necessary for someone to get an ID. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit.
Missouri Republicans have sought to establish a photo ID requirement to vote for a decade.
“This is nowhere near where I would want it”, said Kraus, who is also running for Missouri secretary of state. Religious leaders said its protections were desperately needed.
“If someone finds out that their neighbor is not voting for whatever reason and grabs their utility bill, they can go down and vote for their neighbor”, Kraus said.
In 2006, Republicans pushed through a photo ID bill that was later struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Younger voters and African-Americans were impacted most by the change. She said she was surprised and disappointed that she didn’t have a chance to weigh in. Jason Holsman said. “This substitute (legislation) will disenfranchise less voters than when we started”, he said, adding that he still opposes the bill.
State Sen. Kiki Curls, a Democrat, shares that concern but said that with only eight Democrats in the 34-member Senate, the compromise was the best outcome this year. If passed by the Senate, because the bill language has changed, the House and Senate would have to come to a resolution before the proposal moves forward.
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To go into effect, voters would also have to approve a constitutional amendment requiring ID at the polls.
