Kill this roadblock to voting in Missouri
The Missouri Secretary of State’s office says it knows of no substantiated complaints of illegal immigrants voting in the state.
But that inconvenient fact isn’t slowing down Missouri Rep. Shane Schoeller, who is willing to disenfranchise legitimate voters to make sure no undocumented citizens venture into the polls.
Schoeller, from Willard, Mo., is sponsoring a bill that would require people to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. They would need to produce a U.S. birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or other document showing citizenship.
Schoeller is running in the GOP primary for secretary of state, but not on a platform promoting citizen involvement. His bill would hamper voter registrations overall. Citizens aren’t likely to be carrying their birth certificate or passport when they stumble upon a registration booth in the library.
But the bill would present bigger obstacles to naturalized citizens, many of whom would have to pay hefty costs to obtain the proper documents. A passport, for instance, costs about $135. A certificate of citizenship costs $600 and takes eight months to process.
None of this is necessary. Lying about being a citizen in order to register to vote already is illegal in Missouri. It’s simply implausible that illegal immigrants would risk exposure by doing so.
Schoeller at least had the sense to remove the worst provision of his bill, which would have required people wanting to submit absentee ballots by mail to jump through multiple hoops. Military personnel serving in combat zones would have been affected.
Schoeller’s bill could come to a vote before the House, which has shown itself willing this session to pass all kinds of wild legislation. Let’s hope members draw the line with Schoeller’s destructive bill.
Matt McKinley
1 year ago“Lying about being a citizen in order to register to vote already is illegal in Missouri. It’s simply implausible that illegal immigrants would risk exposure by doing so.”
This didn’t stop the Somali Nationals from voting for Rizzo in the old Northeast did it? It sur didn’t invalidate their votes after the fact.
George Hunsucker
Northland
1 year agoAnother lib rant at requiring people to show ID to vote, just as they do to board a plane, cash a check, get a driver’s permit. Why don’t libs want to insure honest votes????