Judge upholds a Missouri law requiring voters to show photo ID to cast a regular ballot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A law requiring Missouri voters to show government-issued photo identification to cast regular ballots will stand after a lower-court judge found it constitutional Tuesday.

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem's decision upholds the law, which was made possible by a 2016 voter-approved constitutional amendment allowing lawmakers to enact photo ID requirements.

“To maintain a secure system for voting, it only stands to reason that a photo ID should be essential,” Missouri Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in a statement praising the ruling.

Voter photo ID supporters such as Ashcroft say the practice prevents voter fraud and improves public confidence in election results. Voting rights advocates say getting the records needed to obtain proper photo identification can be challenging, especially for older voters and people with disabilities.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports 36 states request or require identification to vote, of which at least 21 ask for a photo ID.

Under Missouri’s law, people without government-issued photo identification can cast provisional ballots to be counted if they return later that day with a photo ID or if election officials verify their signatures.

The law also requires the state to provide a free photo identification card to those lacking one to vote.

Missouri's NAACP and League of Women Voters, along with two individual voters, sued to overturn the law in 2022. They argued that some voters faced substantial obstacles getting up-to-date and accurate government-issued photo IDs and worried that casting a provisional ballot could put them at higher risk of having their votes not counted.

Beetem initially dismissed the lawsuit, finding neither of the two individual voters “alleged a specific, concrete, non-speculative injury or legally protectable interest in challenging the photo ID requirement.”

The Missouri ACLU and Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, who sued on behalf of the plaintiffs, in response added another voter to the lawsuit and asked Beetem again to find the voter ID requirement unconstitutional.

Beetem noted in his Tuesday ruling that all of the individual plaintiffs have successfully voted since the law took effect.

“Their claim that their provisional ballots may be rejected is purely speculative,” Beetem wrote. “In addition, the evidence at trial confirms that rejection rates for provisional ballots are low, and the rates specifically for signature-mismatch are exceedingly low.”

He concluded that the law's rules on photo identification “protect the fundamental right to vote by deterring difficult to detect forms of voter fraud."

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they will appeal Beetem's ruling.

“The League believes the state should be making it easier, not harder, for Missourians to exercise their fundamental right to vote," Missouri League of Women Voters President Marilyn McLeod said in a statement. "There’s no evidence of voter impersonation in Missouri, so these restrictions don’t make our elections any safer or more secure.”

The 2022 law also includes permits in-person voting for any reason two weeks before an election, a compromise negotiated by Senate Democrats.