New law requires photo IDs for registered voters
SIKESTON — A new law means Missouri voters will have to show a valid photo ID before voting in their next elections.
The new photo voter ID law took effect June 1. New Madrid County was the first in Missouri to have an election with the new law in effect when a special election was held for one of its wards on June 20, according to New Madrid County Clerk Clement Cravens.
Under the new law, a registered voter may show a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license, non-driver's license, passport or military ID.
Registered voters lacking any photo ID can show proof of identity such as a school or college ID, utility bill, bank statement or government document showing their name and address, and sign a statement swearing they are who they say they are, Cravens said.
For those without a photo ID or any documentation of identification, a provisional ballot can be cast. Then, if the signature matches the signature in the voter registry or if the voter returns later with proper photo ID, the vote will count.
“I don’t anticipate it to be a huge problem with us, and I would say the vast majority of our voters use their driver license as a form of ID to vote anyway,” Cravens said.
Cravens said two registered voters didn’t have a valid photo ID when they came to vote in last month’s special election.
“They used their former voter ID cards (as identification), and they filled out the affidavit and voted,” Cravens said of the voters.
Craven’s office then scanned the paperwork and emailed it to the Secretary of State’s office, which will then notify those voters of their opportunities to get a photo ID if they need one, Cravens said.
“If they are a registered voter but have no form of ID, then we give them this provisional ballot. If they leave and come back the same day before the polls close with their photo ID, that ballot will become regular and be tabulated,” Cravens said.
In the event, a registered voter who doesn’t have an ID casts a provisional ballot then the county clerk’s office has to verify signatures through the voter registration system after the polls close by examining the signature and making the determination if that was the individual who he should have been, Cravens said.
If a clerk’s office determines the signatures don’t match and the voter is not the same person, the clerk can tear up the ballot and the vote does not count.
“There will be some people who come in on Election Day with the old, traditional forms of IDs that aren’t photo IDs,” Cravens said. “… maybe that day they didn’t have their photo ID with them and they sign the affidavit and the next time, they’ll remember to bring their photo ID.”