During a vote to give initial approval to a bill requiring voters to have photo identification, lawmakers refused to extend COVID-19 protections for voters for the rest of the year.
Last year Missouri lawmakers approved legislation that would allow voters to use coronavirus as a reason to vote with an absentee ballot. Representative Trish Gunby proposed bringing the amendment into all 2021 elections.
Some opponents of the amendment said it didn’t make sense to pass a law that had expired, while Representative Peter Merideth said it wasn’t a big deal to extend the amendment.
"If you believed that this was good policy then, the simple question is, is it good policy now? Since COVID is still a thing. And at the time, folks generally thought that by now, we wouldn't be dealing with this stuff anymore."
In addition to not extending COVID protections, the bill says that voters without photo ID will have to fill out a provisional ballot to vote. The bill received initial approval Monday.
