COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
OVERSIGHT DIVISION
FISCAL NOTE
L.R. No.:4468H.03C Bill No.:HCS for HB 2140 Subject:Elections; County Officials Type:Original Date:March 9, 2022Bill Summary:This proposal modifies provisions relating to elections.
FISCAL SUMMARY
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUNDFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025General Revenue*$0 or (Unknown)$0 or (Unknown)$0 or (Unknown)Total Estimated Net
Effect on General
Revenue$0 or (Unknown)$0 or (Unknown)$0 or (Unknown)
*§1 allows the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to obtain legal
counsel other than from the Attorney General. There is potential that costs for outside counsel
could exceed $250,000.
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON OTHER STATE FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Other State Funds*$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown$0 to UnknownTotal Estimated Net
Effect on Other State
Funds$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown
* §28.960.3 and §115.225.6 allow the Secretary of State to withhold funds from the Local
Election Authorities (LEA). Oversight assumes this could be from various other state funds.
These funds vary by size of election and LEA and are difficult to calculate a total. Withholding
all these funds would be a potential loss to LEAs exceeding $250,000 but be offset with savings
to Other State Funds in the same amount.
Numbers within parentheses: () indicate costs or losses. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Various Federal
Funds
$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown$0 to UnknownTotal Estimated Net
Effect on All Federal
Funds$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown$0 to Unknown
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)FUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Total Estimated Net
Effect on FTE 000
☒ Estimated Net Effect (expenditures or reduced revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any
of the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act.
☒ Estimated Net Effect (savings or increased revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any of
the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act.
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Local GovernmentUnknown to
(Unknown Could
exceed $250,000)
Unknown to
(Unknown Could
exceed $250,000)
Unknown to
(Unknown Could
exceed $250,000)
* Legislation prohibits the state of Missouri and political subdivisions from receiving or
expending private moneys for preparing, administering, or conducting an election, including
registering voters. This could have a potential negative impact on local elections authorities if
they are unable to replace private money with an acceptable source according to this provision. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
Bill No. HCS for HB 2140
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FISCAL ANALYSIS
ASSUMPTION
Officials from the Office of the Secretary of State (SOS) assume this bill would allow voters
who have moved from one county to another after the registration deadline for any given election
to update their registration in person at the office of their local election authority on Election Day
and be eligible to vote, so long as their existing registration was not previously cancelled.
The change in the registration deadline will require programming changes to the Missouri
Centralized Voter Registration database in order to ensure that newly-registered voters are
eligible for each election. The SOS anticipates that these changes should be accomplished under
existing contracts as part of a regular upgrade release cycle. However, it is possible that
specialized programming outside of standard contracts may be required to accomplish the
necessary changes. The cost of the technical resources that would be needed in such a situation is
unknown.
Oversight assumes any additional costs arising from this proposal can be absorbed with existing
personnel and resources. However, the SOS may seek additional appropriations if there is a
significant increase for technical resources. Therefore, Oversight assumes the SOS will be able
to perform any additional duties required by this proposal with current staff and resources and
will reflect no fiscal impact to the SOS for fiscal note purposes due to these provisions.
In addition, SOS
(DREs) be removed from service by January 1, 2024, with the exception of any machine used
solely for disabled voters. Based on most recent survey conducted in 2020, there are 330 DREs
in service statewide. All local election authorities (LEAs) which disclosed the use of DREs on
the survey have already replaced or have indicated that they are actively planning to replace
those machines prior to the date specified in the bill. Therefore, the SOS does not anticipate
being required to cover the costs under Article X, Section 21, but will provide assistance to those
LEAs using existing grant programs.
Oversight notes this response from the SOS is different from previous years. SOS’ response to
similar proposals in 2021 (i.e. HB 925) included a per-machine replacement cost of $5,000 for
the 330 DRE’s in service statewide (for a total of $1.65 million). Oversight will utilize SOS’
assumption that this change is already in progress and that this bill will not create a material
additional fiscal impact to the state.
The SOS also assumes many bills considered by the General Assembly include provisions
allowing or requiring agencies to submit rules and regulations to implement the act. The SOS is
provided with core funding to handle a certain amount of normal activity resulting from each
year’s legislative session. The fiscal impact for this fiscal note to the SOS for Administrative L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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Rules is less than $5,000. The SOS recognizes that this is a small amount and does not expect
that additional funding would be required to meet these costs. However, the SOS also
recognizes that many such bills may be passed by the General Assembly in a given year and that
collectively the costs may be in excess of what the office can sustain with the core budget.
Therefore, the SOS reserves the right to request funding for the cost of supporting administrative
rules requirements should the need arise based on a review of the finally approved bills signed by
the governor.
Oversight assumes the SOS could absorb the costs of printing and distributing regulations
related to this proposal. If multiple bills pass which require the printing and distribution of
regulations at substantial costs, the SOS could require additional resources.
Officials from the Department of Revenue (DOR) state:
§115.151.3
Requires the Department to transmit voter registration application forms to the appropriate
election authority and modifies the requirement to transmit no later than three business days after
the form is completed by the applicant.
§115.160.3
Requires the Department to utilize electronic voter registration application forms and to ensure
the confidentiality and integrity of the data collected, maintained, received, or transmitted.
§115.160.5
Requires the Department to transmit voter registration information in a secure and electronic
manner, including electronic image of the signature of the applicant, in a format compatible with
the Missouri voter registration system established in §115.158. The proposed changes further
define that each election authority receiving application forms must forward any application that
pertains to a different election authority to that election authority in a secure and electronic
manner.
The Department and the Office of the Secretary of State are currently working to complete a
project to implement an electronic exchange of voter registration application information,
including the signature, which is currently scheduled to be completed in early 2022. Such
implementation would meet the provisions of this bill, assuming there is not an expectation for
the Department to submit data to each individual county election authority. Therefore, any cost
associated with this legislation has already been absorbed.
§115.427.2(1)
The proposed change removes the language requiring the individual to sign a statement
certifying the individual has no other form of personal identification that meets the current
requirements of §115.427.2(1) when applying for a Nondriver identification card for voting
transactions. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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Administrative Impact
Currently the Department is required to have the individual who is applying for a Nondriver
license for voting purposes, sign a statement at time of application, certifying under penalty of
perjury that they have no other form of personal identification that would meet the current
requirements of §115.427.2(1).
To implement the proposed change, the Department would be required to:
Driver License (MEDL) issuance system, MEDL central applications and supporting
systems to remove nondriver for voting statement no longer required, update denial
tracking application and to generate an electronic voter registration statement in lieu of a
printed form;
License (MEDL) issuance system;
file specifications for electronic transfer of voter registration application data;
voter registration system for sending the required signature and voter registration
information file to the data file for submission to the Secretary of State:
elements and signature are sent as required;
FY 2023 - Driver License Bureau
Research/Data Assistant 220 hrs. @ $16.30 per hr. =$3,586
Research/Data Analyst 260 hrs. @ $24.29 per hr. =$6,315
Administrative Manager 80 hrs. @ $26.37 per hr. =$2,110
Total $12,011
FY 2023 - Personnel Services Bureau
Associate Research/Data Analyst 20 hrs. @ $19.47 per hr. =$389
Associate Research/Data Analyst 10 hrs. @ $19.47 per hr. =$195
Total $584
Total Costs $12,595
Oversight notes that IT costs for §115.427.2(1) according to DOR are contracted at $95 per
hour. This section would result in $2,873 (30.24 hours x $95) in FY 2023. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
Bill No. HCS for HB 2140
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Revenue Impact
DOR states currently persons who already hold an acceptable identification for voting are not
allowed the no cost nondriver for voting since they cannot complete the required affidavit
statement. The removal of this limitation may allow persons who already have a valid driver
license or other eligible document to apply for the no cost nondriver for voting. The estimated
number of potential applicants who may have a current acceptable identification document for
voting and yet request an NDL for voting purposes is 53. This number was determined by
reviewing the maximum office denial count statewide in 2021.
The estimated loss of revenue below reflects the office transaction fee and office processing fee
since currently the offices are reimbursed for processing fees related to no fee nondriver for
voting transactions not collected at the time of issuance.
Potential annual loss of NDL Transaction Fee = $6.00 x 53= $318
10 months (FY23) = $265
Total Loss of State General Revenue FY 24, FY 25 and on-going $318
Potential savings from General Revenue by removing reimbursement of processing fees to
license offices for current issuance volumes of nondriver for voting documents would be:
$12.00 x 1,001(948 annual NDL Voting issuance + 53 denials) = $12,012 potential revenue
savings.
Vendor per card cost including postage for NDL $2.44112 x 53 = $129 annually FY 24, 25 and
on-going (this is assuming thee applicants would not have completed application today if fee not
waived).
This impact could potentially increase on election years when more citizens will utilize the
provisions.
**Oversight notes that there may be a potential increase in loss of revenue during an election
year when more citizens may utilize the provisions. According to DOR, the denial count
statewide out of 182 offices was 1,442 persons YTD in 2020 (Presidential Election Year). The
loss of revenue is reflected below:
NDL Transaction Fee (Loss) = $6.00 x 1,442= ($ 8,652)
Office Processing Fee (Savings) = $12.00 x 1,442= $17,304
Total Affect to State General Revenue FY 23, FY 24 and on-going $8,652
Oversight assumes that Department of Revenue will be able to accomplish the requirements of
§115.427.2(1) with existing resources; however, during presidential election years, the
cumulative impact may require additional appropriations. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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Officials from the Missouri House of Representatives assume an unknown fiscal impact, as
they do not know if the Speaker would need to secure outside counsel and they have no way of
estimating that amount.
Officials from the Missouri Senate assume a new appropriation will need to be established to
appropriate money for the purpose of paying legal fees. The last time legal fees were paid was in
2010-2011 and the cost was $75,000 paid from the joint contingent appropriation. In 2017
attorney bids were obtained for potential legal counsel and the bids came in at $200,000. The
case was dropped and nothing was ever paid. These fees would have been paid from the senate
contingent appropriation. Therefore, based on past bids from 2017 the Senate would assume
costs to be around $200,000 to be appropriated to the Senate for legal fees.
Oversight notes that Section 1 allows the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the
Senate to obtain legal counsel other than from the Attorney General, with the cost of
representation paid from funds appropriated for that purpose, to represent the House of
Representatives or Senate in any action in which they intervene on behalf of the general
assembly. Oversight notes that is difficult to determine the cost of outside counsel and if it would
be utilized. This funding is also dependent on appropriation, Therefore, Oversight will reflect a
$0 or unknown (secure counsel outside of AGO) that could exceed $250,000 on the fiscal note.
Officials from the Office of the State Public Defender, Department of Corrections
Department of Public Safety- Missouri Highway Patrol, Missouri Office of Prosecution
ServicesOffice of Administration, Office of the Governor, Joint
Committee on Administrative Rules, and Office of the State Courts Administrator
assumed the proposal will have no fiscal impact on their organizations. Oversight does not have
any information to the contrary. Therefore, Oversight will reflect a zero impact in the fiscal note
for these agencies.
Officials from the St. Louis County Board of Elections assume the proposed section 28.960 is
vague at best and could have negative financial ramifications for county election authorities. This
proposed section allows the SOS to conduct discretionary audits of voter records in any Missouri
county. The section states that the SOS shall verify whether a voter is alive, where the voter
resides, and whether the voter is entitled to vote. This may sound straightforward to the
uninitiated, but verifying these things can be difficult in practice. For example, many Missouri
voters registered to vote decades ago before the last four digits of the Social Security Number
were required when registering. It can be quite difficult to match a death record against a voter
with no Social Security Number in the voter database. This same type of ambiguity also exists in
questions of residency. Presumably the Secretary of State’s office, which heretofore has had no
statutory role in registering voters or maintaining the voter list, could make some arbitrary
decision that a certain voter or voters should be deleted and the local election authority may
disagree with this decision. In a case such as this, the local election authority would in the
precarious position of having funding withheld. This provision does not detail what funding may
be withheld or how much. In a worst case scenario the Secretary of State could withhold the L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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State’s portion of the potential election funding for the August and November 2022 elections.
For St. Louis County this would be about $1.4 million.
Section 115.160.3 will have the DMV electronically transfer voter registrations to the office
would save 350 hours of work a year. At the lowest temporary employee salary, this would save
$13,000 annually.
In section 115.225.5 because "electronic vote-counting machine" is not defined, it is assumed
this would eliminate the use of tabulation software. In order to hand count 27 million votes (the
number of votes cast in the November 2020 election), it would take 45,049 man hours. This
would require 200 two-person teams to work 24/7 for ten days in order to have results by the
certification deadline. At $25 an hour, this would cost $1,125,000. Training costs would include
an hour of training for 800 people (counters and back-ups). At $25 an hour this would cost
$20,000. In addition, they would require the use of a space to fit this many people. To rent a
building for 24 hours a day for 10 days, this would cost an estimated $100,000. Security would
be needed at an estimated cost of $20,000. In total, this would cost $1,265,000 per county-wide
election.
115.022 would prevent them from accepting private money for election administration. This
could have a potential impact from $0-$2 million.
Officials from Platte County Board of Elections state in 2020, they received about $40,000 in
funding that would not be allowed in the proposed legislation. The funding was necessary due to
added expenses of conducting an election in the midst of a pandemic.
In addition, several of their poll sites in private buildings charge no or reduced rent for Election
Day. This legislation could increase costs if election authorities have to pay something for
currently free poll sites, or increase costs a lot if election authorities have to pay a fair price for
all our poll sites in private buildings.
Officials from the Kansas City Board of Elections assume if this legislation is passed, election
estimates would increase by $75,000, ($50,000 for PPE supplies and $25,000 for the printing of
documents associated with new absentees’ information and photo I.D.) Also, the Board wouldn't
allow penetration testing as it would void our contract with the vendor. Also, two new staff
would be hired to handle all the DMV transactions at $40,000 per year, including benefits.
In response to a previous version, officials from Jackson County Board of Elections stated
currently the Board uses ballot marking devices for absentee voting. Limiting the use of the
ADA ballot marking devices to only those with disabilities will increase ballot printing costs
substantially.
The Jackson County Election Board can have up to three hundred (300) different ballot styles in
an election and would have to print absentee ballots for each ballot style for absentee voting at a
cost of .35 cents per ballot. The Board has no way of knowing who will be voting absentee so at L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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least 2% of each ballot style would have to be printed to cover the walk-in and permanent
absentee voters. Currently the Board prints enough absentee ballots for permanent/disabled
voters to mail to them and have a small amount for walk-in absentees if the walk-in chooses a
paper ballot over the ballot marking device. The ballot marking device allows them to pull up
any individual’s particular ballot style while also producing a paper ballot at a substantial cost
savings.
The Jackson County Election Board along with other Missouri election authorities have invested
millions of dollars in ADA machines which are not widely used at the polling locations so
making use of them in our absentee department is fiscally responsible and our voters like the
machines.
Cost to Election Authority/County
Small Elections $3,500 per election/per year
Large Elections $10,000 per election/per year
In response to similar legislation, SB 670 from 2022, officials from the St. Charles County
Election Authority assumed Section 28.960.3 and Section 115.225.6 state that the SOS may
withhold funds from the Local Election Authorities (LEAs). The language does not state which
funds may be withheld. As the SOS distributes federal grant funds, the State's "Fair Share" of
election costs when appropriated, the Efficiency Grant, absentee mail postage reimbursements
and reimbursements for updating the state MCVR database, any and all of these funds could be
withheld by the SOS from the LEA. These funds vary by size of election and LEA and are
difficult to calculate a total. Withholding all these funds in 2020 would have cost St. Charles
County Election Authority $1,047,000.
Oversight notes that §115.160.3 states the Director of Revenue shall utilize electronic voter
registration application forms and provide for secure electronic transfer of voter registration
information to election authorities. As stated above by the St. Louis County Board of Elections
there would be a savings as a result of electronic registrations. Therefore, Oversight will reflect
an unknown positive impact to local election authorities in the fiscal note due to this provision.
In response to similar legislation, SB 668 from 2022, officials from the St. Louis City Board of
Elections assumed the proposal prohibits election authorities from receiving funding from extra-
governmental sources. While it is unclear what sources could be available in the future for such
funding, the inability to access such a possibility would have a negative fiscal impact on the bi-
partisan St. Louis City Election Board to access funds. Requiring photo ID for voters would
likely increase the amount of provisional votes cast which would need to be processed by
election board staff within the certification period. Increased staffing and possible overtime
would have a negative fiscal impact. This provisions also eliminates the duty of the SOS to
inform the public of the new ID requirement; lack of information would likely lead to confusion
on the part of the voter; and lead to casting of more provisional ballots. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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Oversight notes §115.022 prohibits state of Missouri and political subdivisions from receiving
or expending private moneys for preparing, administering, or conducting an election, including
registering voters. This could have a potential negative impact on local elections authorities if
they are unable to replace private money with an acceptable source according to this provision.
Therefore, Oversight will reflect a potential loss of $0 to Unknown that could exceed $250,000
on the fiscal note.
Oversight notes that §28.960.3 and §115.225.6 state that the SOS may withhold funds from the
LEAs. The language does not state which funds may be withheld. As mentioned above by the
St. Charles Election Authority the SOS distributes federal grant funds, the State's "Fair Share" of
election costs when appropriated, the Efficiency Grant, absentee mail postage reimbursements
and reimbursements for updating the state MCVR database, any of these funds could be withheld
by the SOS from the LEA. These funds vary by size of election and LEA and are difficult to
calculate a total. Therefore, Oversight will reflect a potential loss of $0 (no funds withheld by
SOS) to Unknown (funds withheld by SOS) to the LEAs on the fiscal note. Oversight will reflect
a corresponding potential savings of $0 (no funds withheld by SOS) to Unknown (funds withheld
by SOS) to the Other State Funds and Federal Funds on the fiscal note.
Oversight also notes that at the beginning of January 1, 2024, no electronic voting systems shall
be used. The use of remaining direct-record electronic voting machines shall be phased out upon
mechanical failure. Based on most recent survey conducted in 2020, there are 330 DREs in
service statewide. All local election authorities (LEAs) which disclosed the use of DREs on the
survey have already replaced or have indicated that they are actively planning to replace those
machines prior to the date specified in the bill. Therefore, Oversight does not anticipate fiscal
impact to LEAs for this provision.
Oversight only reflects the responses received from state agencies and political subdivisions;
however, other local election authorities and county clerks were requested to respond to this
proposed legislation but did not. A listing of political subdivisions included in the Missouri
Legislative Information System (MOLIS) database is available upon request. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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FISCAL IMPACT – State GovernmentFY 2023
(10 Mo.)
FY 2024FY 2025GENERAL REVENUECost – §1
SEN/MHR legal counsel p.7
$0 or
(Unknown)
$0 or
(Unknown)
$0 or
(Unknown)
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON
GENERAL REVENUE FUND
$0 or
(Unknown)
$0 or
(Unknown)
$0 or
(Unknown)
OTHER STATE FUNDSSavings – §28.960.3 and §115.225.6
Potential withholding by SOS of “Fair
Share” funding to LEAs p. 8
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON
OTHER STATE FUNDS
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
FEDERAL FUNDSSavings – §28.960.3 and §115.225.6
Potential withholding by SOS of “Fair
Share” funding to LEAs p. 8
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON
FEDERAL FUNDS
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown
$0 to
Unknown L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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FISCAL IMPACT – Local GovernmentFY 2023
(10 Mo.)
FY 2024FY 2025LOCAL POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS
Savings - §115.160.3 Electronic
registrations p. 8
UnknownUnknownUnknownLoss – LEAs - §115.022
Loss of election funding by private
sources p.8
$0 to
(Unknown
Could exceed
$250,000)
$0 to
(Unknown
Could exceed
$250,000)
$0 to
(Unknown
Could exceed
$250,000)
Loss – §28.960.3 and §115.225.6
Potential withholding by SOS of “Fair
Share” funding to LEAs p. 8
$0 to
(Unknown)
$0 to
(Unknown)
$0 to
(Unknown)
Costs – to implement various
provisions of the bill
$0 to
(Unknown)
$0 to
(Unknown)
$0 to
(Unknown)
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON
LOCAL POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS
Unknown to
(Unknown)
Unknown to
(Unknown)
Unknown to
(Unknown)
FISCAL IMPACT – Small Business
There could be an impact from the potential statewide loss of Contract Office Processing Fee
monies from additional no fee nondriver for voting applications and removal of appropriations
language that previously covered the reimbursement of processing fees to contracted license
offices. With this proposed language the DOR assumes they will no longer return those fees
since funding is not allowed for such and the contractor may see a reduction based on their office
nondriver for voting volume.
FISCAL DESCRIPTION
This bill changes election laws. In its main provisions the bill:
(1) Authorizes the Secretary of State (SOS) to audit voter registration lists and require election
authorities to remove improper names. Audit procedures are specified in the bill and
noncompliance could result in a withhold of funds (Section 28.960, RSMo);
(2) Prohibits changes to election laws in the 26 weeks preceding a presidential election (Section
115.004); L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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(3) Removes obsolete references to ballot cards and requires voting machines to be air gapped as
a security measure (Section 115.013, 115.417, 115.447);
(4) Removes the one year voter and residency requirement for election commissioners, but
retains the requirements of voter registration and residency at the time of appointment (Section
115.031);
(5) Exempts board of election commissioners and clerk employees from requirement to reside or
register within the jurisdiction in which they serve (Sections 115.045 and 115.051);
(6) Allows appointment of election judges who reside outside the requisite election authority’s
jurisdiction without the need for written consent from the election authority in whose jurisdiction
the potential judge resides. Procedures for selecting election judges from lists submitted by
political party committees is specified (Section 115.081; 115.085);
(7) Candidates for election challenger need not be a registered voter within the jurisdiction they
serve and have the same qualifications as election judges (Section 115.105);
(8) Candidates for watcher need not be a registered voter within the jurisdiction they serve and
have the same qualifications as election judges (Section 115.107);
(9) Repeals specified registration exceptions for intrastate new residents (Section 115.135);
(10) Authorizes the Department of Revenue to use electronic applications when sending
materials to election authorities under the existing voter registration program in place at the
Division of Motor Vehicles and Drivers Licensing, within the Department of Revenue.
Electronic applications shall be sent no later than three business days after completion of a form.
The electronic applications shall be secure and in a format compatible with the existing Voter
Registration System under Section 115.158. The Secretary of State and Director of Revenue
shall guarantee the security and transmission of electronic data. Images of signatures may be
used for the purpose of voter registration (Sections 115.151, 115.160, 115.960);
(11) Restricts voter information released by election authorities by eliminating the date of birth
and prohibiting uses for commercial purposes. Certain requirements to release such information
to the general public are also repealed or modified (Sections 115.157 and 115.289); (11) Allows
registered voters to file change of address forms in person on Election Day (Sections 115.165);
(12) Prohibits the payment of persons for soliciting voter registration applications and requires
registration of any person soliciting more than 10 voter registration applications (Section
115.205);
(13) Beginning January 1, 2024, the bill requires the use of a paper ballot and repeals electronic
voting system language with certain exceptions for voting equipment used for the disabled.
Requires local election authorities to be members of the Center for Internet Security and allows
the SOS to review cyber security for local election authorities and vendors as specified in the L.R. No. 4468H.03C
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bill. Testing of vendor products such as programs and machines is allowed and subject to
appropriation (Sections 115.225, 115.237, 115.447);
(14) Defines absentee ballots as those authorized to be cast away from a polling place or in the
office of the election authority or other authorized location designated by the election authority.
References to Space Force are included for purposes of voting processes and electronic ballot
information authorized for the armed forces (Sections 115.257, 115.275 and 115.427);
(15) Allows use of absentee ballots to vote in person with a form of personal identification as
specified in the bill. Notarization requirements are also specified in the bill depending upon the
excuse for voting absentee and whether or not voting is conducted in person. Affidavit forms are
modified. The casting of in person absentee ballots with photographic identification is authorized
only if courts uphold the constitutionality of photographic identification requirements as
specified in the bill (Sections 115.277 and 115.279, 115.283);
(16) Prohibits the solicitation of absentee ballot applications and prevents filling in such
applications for voters prior to providing a form (Section 115.279);
(17) Authorizes the counting of absentee ballots received in person prior to Election Day and
those received by mail or authorized drop box prior to the closing of polls on Election Day
(Section 115.286);
(18) Allows voter assistance in cases of temporary confinement due to illness or physical
disability on election day, but repeals specific COVID-19 references to mail-in ballots that have
expired (Sections 115.287, 115.291, and 115.652);
(19) Specifies photographic identification requirements for voting a regular ballot, but allows use
of provisional ballots with any type of documentation currently allowed for voting. A line item
appropriation for the Secretary of State's Office regarding notice of personal identification is
repealed. Certain affidavit requirements are repealed and requirements for provisional ballots are
specified in the bill (Section 115.427);
(20) Specifies that once a ballot is deposited in the ballot box, then it is deemed cast (115.435);
and
(21) Creates the "Missouri Elections Sovereignty Act" which asserts that the enumerated powers
of the federal Congress are explicitly limited to regulation of the time, place, and manner of
federal elections, and that the states retain authority over state and local elections. The state of
Missouri will comply with Constitutional requirements regarding all elections. Election
procedures may be separated for federal versus state and local elections in order to preserve the
right and duty of state governments to regulate voter qualifications and the conduct of elections
at the state local level. L.R. No. 4468H.03C
Bill No. HCS for HB 2140
Page 15 of 15
March 9, 2022
SAK:LR:OD
(22) Repeals expired Section 115.302, which allowed mail in ballots during the COVID-19 crisis
and other sections referencing obsolete COVID-19 laws (Section 115.652);
This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not
require additional capital improvements or rental space.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Attorney General’s Office
Department of Corrections
Department of Revenue
Missouri Highway Patrol
Office of Administration
Office of the Governor
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
Missouri Senate
Missouri House of Representatives
Office of the Secretary of State
Office of the State Public Defender
Missouri Office of Prosecution Services
Office of the State Courts Administrator
Platte County Board of Elections
Jackson County Board of Elections
St. Charles Election Authority
St. Louis County Board of Elections
Kansas City Board of Elections
Julie MorffRoss StropeDirectorAssistant DirectorMarch 9, 2022March 9, 2022