FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Contact: Laura Egerdal, (573) 526-0949
Contact: Ryan Hobart, (573) 526-4734

Carnahan Identifies Nearly 230,000 Voters that Risk Being Disenfranchised by Legislation

Columbia, Missouri —– Secretary of State Robin Carnahan today announced her office has identified almost 230,000 registered voters who may not have the government-issued photo identification needed to vote as required by a proposed constitutional amendment. Carnahan was joined by Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren, Columbia disabilities advocate Kathleen Weinschenk, University of Missouri student Drew Bailey and Lincoln University student Greg Butler at a press conference in Columbia today to discuss the effects of the proposal.

HJR 9 would change Missouri's Constitution by requiring voters to present a form of government-issued photo identification before casting a ballot. The proposed amendment also makes changes to Missouri's registration and absentee voting processes.

The list of approximately 230,000 voters includes individuals of all ages and from all counties of the state. Although the proposed constitutional amendment would provide "free" government-issued photo IDs to these voters, the underlying documents required can be expensive or even impossible to obtain.

To get a Missouri issued photo ID, voters would have to visit a Department of Revenue fee office and present a variety of documents that demonstrate proof of lawful presence, proof of identity and proof of residency. Greg Butler, a 25 year old from Jefferson City, Mo., tried to get a Missouri driver's license in 2008. "I have my Illinois birth certificate, but I was turned away because it doesn't have a raised seal," Butler said. "I'm trying to get a new copy from Illinois, but the process is complicated. If this passed, I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to vote in Missouri."

"It's my job to protect the rights of all Missouri voters," Carnahan said. "This proposal would make it difficult or impossible for thousands of eligible Missourians to cast a ballot. I hope our legislators will take a closer look at this list and see that there are people in communities all over the state who risk being disenfranchised by this proposal." 

To compile the list of voters, the Missouri Centralized Voter Registration Database was compared with the Driver and Non-Driver License information maintained by the Department of Revenue. The list includes any registered voters who lack state-issued photo identification or had one that had expired prior to 2009.

Additionally, a random sample of 500 voters was checked manually. This process revealed the list had an error rate of approximately 4% due to name changes, misspelled names, or nickname usage between databases. Even accounting for the error rate, this list shows that HJR 9 would jeopardize the fundamental right to vote for hundreds of thousands of Missourians.

Missouri Voters without Current Photo ID by County

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