Lawsuit Seeks to Ease Absentee Voting Laws in MO During Pandemic

Voting Rights Groups filed Suit Friday to allow Missourians to Vote-by-Mail if they are Sheltering in Place because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition said they want to make Absentee Balloting available to All Eligible Voters.

“No one should be forced to choose between staying safe and voting. Expanding absentee ballot access to all registered voters during the pandemic is a commonsense solution that protects people’s health and their right to vote,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.

Missouri currently requires Voters to provide an Excuse to Vote Absentee. One of the Allowable Reasons a Voter can cite for Voting Absentee is “incapacity or confinement due to illness or physical disability.”

The Lawsuit seeks to Clarify that Voters who are Confining themselves to Avoid contracting or spreading COVID-19 may invoke the confinement-due-to-illness Reason for Absentee Voting to prevent Large-Scale Disenfranchisement and to Secure Public Health.

Officials in St. Louis County and other Missouri Counties have already Signaled that they will Allow People to use the Excuse, but Missouri Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft (R), has Balked at the Idea.










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