MO Supreme Court Rules Notary Requirement is not Unconstitutional

The Missouri NAACP, ACLU and the League of Women Voters, along with three registered voters, took their case to The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 6. The Court heard an appeal to remove the notary requirement for mail-in voting in the November General Election. On Friday, October 9, the Court rejected the arguments.

The Court rejected arguments to remove the notary requirement for mail-in voting in the November General Election

In April, the challengers sued the State of Missouri, the Secretary of State and local election officials, arguing that the steps to vote by mail during a pandemic are unconstitutional. They argued the new state law requiring voters who want to mail in their ballots to get a notary could put their health and the health of others at risk during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum dismissed the case last month. He cited the testimony of an expert witness the League of Women Voters provided who admitted that social distancing and other precautions are consistently effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, October 6, the ACLU argued that the Cole County circuit court erroneously upheld a notarization requirement that imposes burdens on Missourians who are seeking to vote during a global pandemic.

Physicians and epidemiologists have filed as friends of the court. They say requiring voters to have absentee ballots notarized presents unavoidable increased risks of transmitting the virus that causes COVID.

John Sauer, the State Solicitor General on behalf of Missouri and the Secretary of State’s Office, said there wasn’t a single case of infection resulting from the state’s voting statutes or any other evidence that would suggest the practice was unsafe.

“The secretary of state and local election authorities were able to provide Missourians with a safe voting experience during the August 2020 primary election,” Sauer said. “That safe voting experience extended to in-person notarization, and there is no reason to think that the local election authorities in the state will be unable to do that going forward.”

The Missouri Supreme Court rejected the arguments of plaintiffs who argued getting a notarization imposes burdens on Missouri citizens seeking to vote during a global pandemic. The Court ruled that the state law allowing voters who expect to be confined “due to illness” to cast an absentee ballot without notarization extends only to those who are ill. The fear of contracting COVID-19 was not the same as being unable to vote because of illness. The opinion also says the state had actually extended voting options during the pandemic.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story