Protecting Election 2020 from Covid-19: A Toolkit for Missouri Activists
If the Covid-19 pandemic continues into November, we will need to change our election practices to make sure voters don’t have to choose between their health and their right to vote. We have the solutions to make our elections both safe and accessible to all. And with this toolkit, you will know what reforms your state needs and where to focus your efforts.
This is part of the Brennan Center’s Toolkits for Activists Across the Nation.
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Political Context | What’s in Place and What’s Needed | Key Dates
Administering an election under pandemic conditions requires undertaking steps to keep voting accessible, safe, and secure. The guide below lays out the problems Covid-19 poses, what preparedness measures Missouri has, and what changes are still needed. But first, we offer some political context for your advocacy.
Advocacy Focus: Local Reform
Local officials have a lot of responsibility over elections. They are a great place to focus advocacy efforts. Though state officials can make any of the changes in this toolkit, we highlight some examples of changes that local elections officials can also make with this symbol:🔸
Political Context
Below is a list of the relevant officials and information about the legislative session.
Governor: Mike Parson (R)
Secretary of State: Jay Ashcroft (R)
Legislature: House (R) Senate (R)
Legislative Session: The legislature adjourned on May 15, 2020 but convened for a special session on July 27, 2020. Either the legislature or the governor can call a special legislative session.
Local Elections Officials: In Missouri, a number of county officials share responsibilities for administering elections. You can look up individual county officials here.
What Missouri Has and What’s Needed
Three priorities. There are three key areas where we need to shore up our elections systems for success during a pandemic: registration, mail voting, and in-person voting.
Registration
Covid-19 may disrupt the traditional ways Americans register to vote, like get out the vote drives or registering at government agencies. In the crucial weeks before the registration deadline, postal service disruptions may lead many registration forms to arrive at election offices after the deadline.
Preparatory Measures Missouri Already Has Taken:
- Online voter registration
Changes Still Needed:
- Prepare to extend online and mail voter registration deadlines based on conditions in the state
- Voter registration on Election Day
Voting by Mail
Because of Covid-19, long lines and crowds at the polls pose health risks not seen in previous elections. Allowing every citizen to vote by mail reduces the number of people at the polls on Election Day and decreases the exposure risk to Covid-19.
Preparatory Measures Missouri Already Has Taken:
- All voters can vote by mail without an excuse
- Provides pre-paid postage for voting by mail
- No ID requirement to vote by mail
Changes Still Needed:
- Online tool for requesting an absentee or mail-in ballot
- Eliminate notary or witness requirement for return of mail ballot
- Accept late-arriving ballots postmarked by Election Day
- Send mail-in ballot applications to all voters who have not yet applied
- Provide post-election notice and cure opportunity for defects on absentee-ballot envelope, including signature mismatch or missing signatures
In-Person Voting
Even with expanded mail voting opportunity, states cannot close polling places. To do so may disenfranchise voters without Internet and mail access, or those who do not wish to cast a ballot by mail. In-person voting must be done in accordance with health guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Changes Still Needed:
- Establish in-person early voting
- Ensure sufficient polling places are open and resourced on Election Day🔸
- Take proper public health precautions to ensure safe polling places🔸
- Hold training sessions for polling-place workers well in advance of Election Day, so that election officials can better anticipate problems with staffing and logistics🔸
- Increase access to curbside voting at polling locations
Advocacy Focus: Protecting Polling Places
No matter how prepared Missouri is as a matter of policy, elections officials and advocates must stay vigilant about ensuring safe, healthy in-person voting is an option for everyone all the way through Election Day. Here are some important things to know about who makes decisions about polling places in Missouri and what rules govern the process:
- Local election authorities have the power to combine two or more adjacent precincts for voting at a single polling place when they provide advance notice.🔸
- Local election authorities may relocate a polling place in an emergency by petitioning a judicial election panel.🔸
Key Dates for Missouri Elections
- July 8, 2020: Deadline to register to vote for the Primary Election
- August 4, 2020: Primary Election Day
- October 7, 2020: Deadline to register to vote for the General Election
- October 21, 2020 (5:00 p.m.): Deadline for requesting that an absentee or mail-in ballot be mailed
- November 2, 2020: Deadline for in-person requests for absentee or mail-in ballots
- November 3, 2020: General Election Day
Key Resources for Advocates
The resources below may be of use to advocates when speaking to lawmakers and other officials.
- Policy Solution: How to Protect the 2020 Vote from the Coronavirus
- The Brennan Center’s detailed plan to ensure that the 2020 is free, fair, accessible, and secure.
- Bipartisan Support for Expanded Mail Voting for the 2020 Elections
- A catalogue of the widespread support that expanded mail voting for the 2020 elections holds among Republicans.
- Voters Need Safe and Sanitary In-Person Voting Options
- Details the reasons why in-person voting opportunities are needed even with expanded mail voting
- The False Narrative of Vote-by-Mail Fraud
- Dispels the false notion that mail voting increases fraud and details sensible ways to enhance the security of mail balloting.
- Saving Democracy from the Coronavirus
- An op-ed that summarizes the risks coronavirus poses to our elections and how we can minimize them.
- Preparing Your State for an Election Under Pandemic Conditions
- 50-state breakdown of what policies states already have and still need in order to protect the election from the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Voting Rights Litigation 2020
- A list of significant voting cases in both state and federal courts that remain pending or pertain to voters’ ability to cast their ballots in 2020.
- NCSL: COVID-19 and Elections
- Database of how states have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on elections, including proposed and enacted legislation as well as executive action
- NCSL: Legislative Sessions and the Coronavirus
- List of whether states have postponed or suspended their legislative session
- NCSL: Special Sessions
- Details who may call a special session in every state