For Immediate Release: June 22, 2026
Secretary of State Continues Election Integrity Efforts Despite Loss of Subpoena Authority
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Although the Missouri Secretary of State’s long-standing subpoena authority expired in August 2025, the Office remains committed to investigating voter and election fraud and safeguarding the integrity of Missouri elections. Unfortunately, the bill to reinstate the Secretary of State’s subpoena power was filibustered by a handful of legislators who want to hinder the Secretary’s ability to investigate election fraud.
Despite this setback, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins emphasized election integrity remains a top priority for his administration.
“I ran on a platform of election integrity, and I am committed to fulfilling the promise I made to the people of Missouri - to ensure only citizens vote in Missouri elections,” said Secretary Hoskins. “I was hopeful the legislature would pass a bill to reinstate my subpoena power. Unfortunately, some legislators did not want me to investigate election fraud and killed the bill. Without my subpoena power, my Office must enlist the assistance of state, federal, and local agencies to investigate voter and election fraud. Through these collaborative efforts, we have identified and removed more than 200,000 ineligible voters from Missouri’s voter rolls, including approximately 60,000 deceased individuals.”
In November 2024, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 7, which changed the Missouri constitution to say only citizens can vote in Missouri elections. To support these efforts, the Secretary of State’s Office has worked with state and federal agencies to provide voter data for verification and cross-referencing purposes in accordance with the Missouri constitution and federal law.
“We have also utilized the federal SAVE database to identify approximately 1,000 individuals registered to vote in Missouri that we could not confirm are United States citizens. We are working with our local election authorities and law enforcement agencies to determine if these individuals are U.S. citizens or noncitizens,” added Secretary Hoskins.
Secretary Hoskins also noted that he takes subpoena power very seriously, which is why he only used his subpoena authority once prior to its expiration.
“Before some legislators filibustered the bill to reinstate my subpoena authority to investigate fraud, I exercised that authority on only one occasion to investigate a formal election complaint involving St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. The formal election complaint included information concerning the alleged misuse of public resources in connection with an April 2025 ballot measure campaign,” Hoskins said. “That investigation ultimately resulted in a felony grand jury indictment charging Page with two counts of election law violations and two counts of stealing by deceit, with a trial date set for January 2027.”
The Secretary of State’s Office continues to investigate other credible reports of potential voter fraud. In one recent case, a tip led investigators to discover a voter in the City of St. Louis was registered three times at the same residential address. Other recent election complaints have dealt with possible electioneering violations, incorrect ballots being distributed to some voters, and election law violations by local elected officials. Without subpoena power, the Secretary will continue to partner with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies with subpoena power to investigate election complaints.
Secretary Hoskins remains committed to maintaining accurate voter registration records, investigating potential violations of election law, and ensuring every lawful vote cast in Missouri elections is protected.