Stop voting roadblocks

On April 2, my son was denied his right to vote by the Missouri Legislature through Missouri Revised Statute 115.135. He had recently turned 18 and wanted to vote for a friend’s parent running for a school board position. My son drove to the correct polling place during normal voting hours with his Missouri REAL ID driver’s license. The poll workers were excited to see a young man taking his civic responsibility seriously. When they could not find him in the system, it was first assumed he had not fully registered at the DMV so he filled out more paperwork while the poll workers graciously called the County Clerk’s office to discover the issue. My son was in fact registered to vote on March 13 as he renewed his driver’s license, but he had not registered early enough (the fourth Wednesday prior to the election) as stated in the Missouri Revised Statute 115.135.

We were all disappointed that my son could not vote for the first time. I decided to investigate further for clarity and called the County Clerk’s office once we returned home. Despite being incredibly busy on voting day, County Clerk Kara Clark Summers spoke directly to me explaining the law in detail. I find Missouri’s voter registration deadline to be ridiculous. Almost half of all states have same-day voter registration. How many more roadblocks will the Missouri Legislature continue to put up against U.S. citizens' voting rights?

JANET O'NEAL, Cape Girardeau