When the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition sued Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and the state of Missouri in state court, it was to challenge the constitutionality of a statute requiring mail-in ballots and absentee ballots to be notarized but, on Oct. 9, the Supreme Court of Missouri issued an opinion that upheld the requirement.
“The determination of whether you qualify to vote absentee under one of the reasons, including the reason that could allow you to vote absentee without a notary, is based on the voters own expectations of what could prevent them from going to the polls,” said Denise Lieberman, general counsel with the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. “So, that part of the opinion was helpful.”
According to media reports, the issue of notarizing ballots is of particular concern this year due to COVID-19.
“We did a scientifically, statistically sound survey of Missouri's notaries and found, unsurprisingly, that many were not available at full schedule in the middle of a pandemic,” Lieberman told the St. Louis Record. “Some were furloughed. Others were working from home. Many are not in the office and those that are in offices are not necessarily open to the public. Places like banks that normally notarize documents for people are not allowing people into their lobbies or they're only servicing people who are actual customers.”
Missouri is among nine states in which a notary stamp and signature is required for absentee or mailed in ballots.
“If you look at who's affected most by the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that voters of color are far more likely to have higher risk levels and worse health outcomes,” Lieberman said. “They're also the people that are much more likely to lack access to transportation, much more likely to be essential workers and not have the flexibility in their job to be able to get to these notary places during working hours.”
The final decision of the Missouri Supreme Court cannot be appealed.
"This case was brought under the state constitution and state law, so there is no possible avenue to appeal the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court," Lieberman said.
The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, however, is taking action to educate voters about the rules and mitigate barriers that could keep voters from having their ballots count in the Nov. 3 elections. For example, ballots that require a notary seal that are returned without a notary seal are rejected.
“We've created the Missouri Notary Hub where we have identified people who are willing to notarize ballots for free,” she said. “Those are accessible on the site but we've also included places for organizations that are hosting notarization events to post those events. There are pop-up notarization events happening at churches. The website is also a place for these groups to recruit volunteers who are notaries to assist at these events.”
Regarding why state officials would oppose dismantling the requirement to notarize absentee ballots and mail-in votes, Lieberman said, “We are really quite disappointed that Secretary Ashcroft elected to fight us on an issue that didn't burden officials and would have made voting easier for many Missouri voters.”