In a victory for election integrity, a judge in Missouri has upheld that state’s voter ID law, which requires voters to present a photo identification to cast a ballot.
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A Missouri State law requiring a photo-ID to vote will remain intact.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Monday that a lawsuit challenging the photo-ID requirement lacks standing.
In his ruling, Beetem said the individual plaintiffs did not provide enough “sufficient evidence” that they are harmed by the law’s voter ID provisions.
He also said the organizational plaintiffs, which includes the Missouri NAACP, “have not satisfied the test for organizational standing or harm to their proprietary interests.”
Beetem said even if the plaintiffs did have standing, lawmakers passed House Bill 1878 “in response to a 2016 Missouri constitutional amendment authorizing voter ID.”
“And the law is consistent with that constitutional provision,” Beetem said.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey again took to X to laud the decision.
The case was initially brought by plaintiffs claiming that the requirement placed undue burdens on certain voters.
Over four days, Cole County Circuit Judge John Beetem will hear familiar arguments that the law passed in 2022 unconstitutionally restricts the right to vote by imposing burdens that disenfranchise large numbers of people. In 2006 and 2020 , Missouri courts struck down photo ID requirements for voting as violations of the state’s constitution.
Denise Lieberman, director of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, said the law being challenged now makes it even harder to vote for people who have difficulties obtaining the necessary identification.
“The current law is more strict than the version struck down in the previous cases,” Lieberman said.
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These arguments seem spurious; it is nearly impossible to carry out the functions of everyday life in the United States without a government-issued photo identification, be it a passport, a driver’s license, or a state-issued ID card. Without such an ID, one cannot open a bank account, cash a check, obtain employment, buy a bottle of booze or a firearm, open an account with a utility company, or, in some places, even rent a DVD from a video-rental store (yes, there still are a few of those around.) Additionally, many states will issue a free photo ID card (as opposed to a driver’s license) on request.
This Missouri case is part of a larger effort to ensure election integrity in the United States.
See Related: Americans Remain Divided Over the Integrity of This Historic Presidential Election
Election Integrity Win for Huntington Beach, CA, As Judge Rules They Can Proceed With Voter ID
Illegal Alien to Plead Guilty to Stealing US Citizen’s ID, Voting in Multiple General Elections
This is a battle won in the effort to ensure election integrity; there will be more.
There is as yet no word as to whether the plaintiffs will appeal the decision.
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