An election integrity bill approved by the Missouri legislature last week that requires a photo ID for voting will increase the likelihood that Republican candidates will get elected over Democrats, according to a St. Louis University professor of political science.
House Bill (HB) 1878 was sponsored by Rep. John Simmons (R-Washington).
“It would suppress the Democratic vote,” said professor Kenneth Warren. “If [former Missouri Governor] Eric Greitens wins the Republican nomination, it could be that the voter ID law will make it easier for Greitens to win the seat in what is anticipated to be a close election for Senate.”
Greitens, who is vying for a U.S. Senate seat as a Republican, resigned as governor in 2018 after being accused of sexually assaulting a mistress and violating campaign finance rules. More recently, he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and children.
“Greitens has so many problems due to his past that establishment Republicans do not want to see him win the nomination because polls show if he wins the Republican nomination, he will win the seat,” Warren told the St. Louis Record.
Greitens' Republican competitors include congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, current Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and attorney Mark McCloskey.
Warren, however, does not believe the legislation would as much impact congressional races.
“Those districts are safe,” he said. “They are gerrymandered in such a way, or you can call it redistricting, but they for sure favor Republicans.”
The legislation, which must now be signed by Gov. Mike Parson by July 1, would allow for two weeks of early in-person voting.
“That will make it easier for Democrats to vote,” Warren said. “That part of the bill is a compromise with Democrats. I was a little surprised it was allowed because a lot of early voting has been struck down by Republicans, not by the courts.”
Another provision of the bill bans ballot drop boxes.
“That was something that [former U.S. President Donald] Trump and Republicans objected to in the 2020 election even though courts have upheld drop boxes,” Warren added. “Missouri is trying to outlaw them completely, which is another way to suppress the vote because it's easier to vote clearly. All of these things are so easy to understand because if you look at every single provision in these draconian voting laws, they are all targeting minorities to suppress the vote. Mostly minorities use drop boxes because the lines to vote are so long in the inner city."
Republican politicians have argued that ballot drop boxes create opportunities for fraudulent elections.
HB 1878 also prohibits ballot harvesting, touch screen voting machines starting in 2024 and requires cybersecurity audits and air gapping so that reading machines are not connected to the internet, said state Sen. Dr. Bob Onder (R) on Facebook.