BENTON, Mo. — Voters will be heading to the polls Tuesday, but there are a few changes to know before going to cast your vote.
Earlier this summer, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed HB 1878 into law, which makes changes to the state’s voting law.
__Photo ID__
One change is voters need to bring a valid photo ID to the polls. Voters that cast their ballot in person at their polling place, or during absentee voting, will need to show a photo ID issued by the state of Missouri or federal government, such as a Missouri driver’s license, Missouri non-driver’s license, a U.S. passport or military ID. You do not need a Real ID to vote and the address on your ID does not need to match the address on your voter registration.
“A voter without a photo ID can vote a provisional ballot that won’t be ran through the counting machine at the voting precinct,” said Scott County Clerk Rita Milam. “We will review the information on the envelope to see if address and signature matches what we have on file to determine if it counts or not.”
__No-excuse voting__
Instead of absentee ballots, Missouri began no-excuse voting on Oct. 25. All registered voters can vote in person at their election office without giving a reason.
Milam said no-excuse voting ends Monday at 5 p.m.
Absentee voting by mail is also still valid and a photo ID is not required for those voters.
__Change of address__
One minor change is that registered Missouri voters can update their address at any time, including on election day, even if they move counties.
Addresses must be changed at the courthouse, but voters can proceed right away to their correct precinct for voting.
Those moving in from out of state should cast a provisional ballot, which is held back and only counted as a vote when one of two criteria is met: either the voter returns to their polling place on election day with a valid photo ID, or a verification team determines the signature on the provisional ballot matches the signature in the voter registry.