Federal court puts halt on Missouri ballot requirement – Daily Journal Online

With just 25 days to go before the Nov. 3 election, the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Missouri’s western district issued a temporary restraining order that lifts the rule that certain absentee voters must get their ballots notarized before putting them in the mail.

But, in doing so, Judge Brian Wimes also acknowledged time was short heading into a national election. In his order, he told Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to direct counties to count all ballots that are received by Election Day.

“In this context, any harm or cost to defendants in implementing this change is minimal, especially when weighed against the risk of total disenfranchisement of Missouri voters,” Wimes wrote.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in a statement he was “disappointed a federal judge decided to legislate from the bench and overturn the will of the people, though their elected representatives, to have safe and secure elections.” Ashcroft said he has asked the attorney general’s office to “immediately appeal the decision and request a stay.”

The federal judge’s decision was issued hours after the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a bid to ease requirements for casting ballots remotely during a pandemic.

In a case brought by the NAACP and the Missouri League of Women Voters, the court signed off on a plan approved by the Legislature this spring that allows anyone to cast an absentee vote as long as they get the ballot envelope notarized.

The new law includes an exception allowing at-risk people — defined as those age 65 and older, living in a long-term care facility or with certain existing health problems — to vote absentee without having their ballot envelopes notarized.

The court said the exceptions provided by the Republican-controlled House and Senate were lawful.

“Although the Missouri Constitution establishes that the right to vote is fundamental to Missouri citizens, the right to vote absentee does not enjoy such high status,” the court wrote. “Although Appellants allege that the notarization requirement infringes on the fundamental right to vote, this court has found that there is no constitutional right in Missouri to vote by absentee or mail-in ballot.”

The voting-rights groups had argued that the law doesn’t do enough to protect Missourians’ right to vote because it forces people to use a notary, which could expose them to the potentially deadly coronavirus. They urged the court to simply count all ballots in the upcoming election regardless of whether they are notarized.

The attorney general’s office told the court that suspending the notarization requirement after thousands of people already have requested ballots could be confusing and grant one group of voters a privilege that others did not have.

The case before the state Supreme Court is an appeal of a decision last month by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem, who ruled against the plaintiffs. Beetem wrote that the evidence showed that election authorities provided “a safe voting experience” during the August primary and “will continue to do so in the upcoming general election.”

Supreme Court Judge Paul Wilson concurred with the majority. In a separate decision, he said the Legislature could have removed the notarization requirement, but didn’t.

“(T)his Court’s role is to construe the law that was passed, not to lament the laws that were not passed,” Wilson wrote.

Absentee voting began Sept. 22. An estimated 364,000 absentee ballots have been requested so far, compared to the 305,000 requested in 2016.

The decision came as a second case in Cole County went to trial Tuesday in Circuit Judge Daniel Green’s courtroom. The lawsuit, filed by the Washington, D.C.-based American Women advocacy organization, also seeks to ensure that ballots are counted even if mail service delays cause them to be delivered after the polls close.

The case before the federal court was filed by several organizations seeking to make the mail-in voting process easier. Those groups include the Organization for Black Struggle, Missouri Faith Voices, the St. Louis and Greater Kansas City Chapters of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis Section.