Student Voting Guide | Missouri

Registration

www.sos.mo.gov/elections (registration form available online)

Voter registration closes at 5 pm on the fourth Wednesday before Election Day.[1]  Mail-in registration forms must be postmarked by that date.[2]  You must show ID when registering to vote in person.[3]  Valid ID includes a copy of a birth certificate, a Native American tribal document, other proof of United States citizenship, a valid Missouri driver’s license or other form of personal ID.[4]  ID need not be presented with mail-in registration forms if you intend to vote in person.  However, if you register to vote by mail and want to vote for the first time by absentee ballot, you will need to provide a copy of your ID to election officials before they will send you an absentee ballot.[5]  (See below for what kinds of ID are acceptable under Missouri law.)

You can register to vote within six months before your 18th birthday.[6]

Residency

Missouri’s election code does not define residency.  Instead, interpretation of the meaning of the term “resident” in the code has been left to the courts.  The Missouri Supreme Court has interpreted residency for voting purposes using traditional notions of domicile, indicating that actual residence plus the intent to remain for an indefinite period of time is necessary to be a resident for voting.[7]  

At School. Students from out of state may choose Missouri as their voting residence.  There are no regulations governing residency; however, Missouri law has historically been interpreted as providing that college students may choose to register and vote from their pre-college address or their school address.[8] 

At Home. Students who lived in Missouri prior to attending school and who wish to establish or keep their Missouri voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ address) should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Missouri allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the county or state to attend school.  The only way you will lose this residency is if you “abandon” it by asserting residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of residency in Missouri, some judges or officials might view it as such.

Challenges to Residency. Poll workers, partisan challengers, or other registered voters are empowered to challenge voters’ qualifications.[9]   Challenges to the eligibility of individual voters are decided by election judges at the polls.[10]  If your vote is denied due to a challenge, you may appeal to the local election authority.[11]  You may be required to execute an affidavit affirming your qualifications.[12]

Identification

All voters must show some form of personal ID at the polls.[13]  If you do not have proper ID, you can vote a regular ballot if two supervising election judges, one from each major political party, attest to your identity and you sign an affidavit affirming your qualifications.[14]  

The following forms of personal ID are accepted: any Missouri-issued ID card, ID issued by the county elections office, any U.S.-issued ID, any ID issued by a Missouri public or private institution of higher education, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government document that contains your name and address; or a driver's license or state ID card issued by another state.[15]  

Absentee Voting

http://www.sos.mo.gov/forms/elections/absentee.pdf

You may vote absentee if you will be absent from your county of registration on Election Day.[16]  First-time voters may vote absentee, but first-time voters who registered by mail will have to submit acceptable identification with their application for an absentee ballot.  You can send your application, which is available on the web site of the Secretary of State at the above link, to your local election authority by mail or fax or by delivering it in person.[17]  An application may also be submitted on your behalf by a guardian or relative.[18]  Your local election authority must receive your mail application by 5 pm on the Wednesday immediately prior to Election Day. [19]  You may return your application in person until 5 pm on the day before the election.[20]  You must sign the absentee ballot envelope in front of a notary.[21]  Your ballot must be received by an election official by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted.[22]

 

Last Updated in April 2010


[1] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.135(1).

[2] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.151(2).

[3] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.135(2).

[4] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.135(2). 

[5] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.159(2) (West 2010).

[6] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.133(1).

[7] Marre v. Reed, 775 S.W.2d 951, 954–55 (Mo. 1989).

[8] See Missouri Secretary of State, “Voting in College,” at http://www.sos.mo.gov/firstvote/college/ (last visited Feb. 24, 2010).

[9] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.429(2) (West 2010).

[10] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.429(3).

[11] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.429(3).

[12] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.429(5) (West 2010).

[13] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.427(1).

[14] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.427(13)(1).

[15] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.427(1); see also Missouri ID Requirements, Missouri Secretary of State website, http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/voterid/default.asp (last visited Mar. 25, 2008).

[16] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.277(1) (West 2010).

[17] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.279(2).

[18] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.279(1) (West 2010).

[19] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.279(3).

[20] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.279(3).

[21] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.291(1).

[22] Mo. Ann. Stat. § 115.293(1).