The Missouri legislative session doesn't begin until Jan. 4, but three state senators have already proposed new laws.
“We've seen a lot of new incoming legislators in both the House and Senate, and it's going to take a little bit of time for them to get their feet wet, learn the ropes and the processes but we've seen a huge amount of election integrity bills,” said Byron Keelin, president of the Freedom Principle MO, a Missouri first 501(c)4.
Among the new legislators is Sen. Jill Carter (R-Jasper) who has proposed ratification by concurrent majority, also known as SJR 28, which is a joint resolution that would reform how constitutional amendments are approved.
“It would not change how a ballot initiative gets on the ballot, but what it would do is change the threshold for how it's ratified,” Keelin said. “You'd still have the simple majority of the population voting for the amendment, but it would also require a majority of the state legislative districts to approve the ratification of an amendment.”
Carter's proposal comes at a time when election outcomes are being questioned in other states.
“Missourians are outraged by the crazy election tricks most recently seen in Maricopa County, Arizona," Keelin said. "We want to know the results of our elections on the day of the election, not a week or month later.”
Other election integrity proposals include SB 98 by Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring), which would eliminate the state’s use of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and abolish any remaining reliance on electronic voting and automatic tabulating equipment.
“It would require hand counting of all paper ballots and people tend to think that it's going to delay election results but actually it's not,” Keelin told the St. Louis Record. “We already have statutes within Missouri that allow for hand counting. We just need to convince the county clerks to use this as a way to protect the integrity of the election.”
Sen. Denny Hoskins' (R-Caldwell) proposal would preserve state control of the election process by creating the Missouri Elections Sovereignty Act.
“This restates what's in the Constitution under Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1, giving the states the power to regulate the elections,” Keelin said.
However, both election integrity bills are likely to be opposed.
“You can look to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the League of Women Voters of Missouri and any left-wing group to oppose this,” Keelin added.
“If they are approved, I suspect that those two organizations will be leading efforts to try to stop the implementation of it. There might even be some moderate conservative groups that oppose it.”