No Excuse Absentee Voting

Background

• Missourians can vote 3 ways:
  • Go to polling place on the day of the election
  • Vote early in-person at a local election authority office
  • Vote absentee with a mail in ballot that is notarized
• Missouri is 1 of 3 state (MO, AK, AL) that require a notarized signature on a mail-in-absentee ballot
  • Other ways of verifying mail in ballots include; verifying that the ballot envelope has been signed, requiring a witness signature as well as a voter signature, requiring a photocopy of an ID sent with ballot, and comparing the signature on the ballot with the one on file.
• Missouri is one of 16 states that requires citizens to have an excuse to absentee or by mail. The valid excuses include:
  • Absent on election day from my voting jurisdiction
  • Incapacity due to illness or physical disability, including caring for a person who is incapacitated
  • Religious belief or practice
  • Employment as an election authority at a location other than my polling place
  • Incarceration
  • Certified participation in the address confidentiality program
  • I have contracted or am in a at-risk category for contracting COVID-19 (*temporary addition)

Relevance to the UM System Student Body

• Students often do not live in their registered district
• If students do live in their district but are at work or in class during voting hours, they would have to perjure themselves to vote absentee.
• COVID-19 concerns (have been addressed for this coming election but needs to be addressed for all future health concerns.
• Finding a notary is confusing and daunting