Hanaway sets up early voting panel

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway is organizing a bipartisan legislative panel that early next year would present a proposal about possible early voting in Missouri.

"The issue is how do we make it easier for voters to cast ballots" while ensuring that all voters have the same access, Hanaway, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, said Thursday.

On Wednesday, a Cole County judge turned back a lawsuit filed by the city of St. Louis and some Democratic lawmakers against Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt, ruling the state's early voting law merely requires local officials to plan for, not implement, the practice.

Those behind the lawsuit sought a court order allowing an early voting period before the Nov. 2 general election.

The lawsuit contended that a 2002 law requires advance voting for general elections. Supporters of advance voting believe it would make voting more convenient, thus encouraging more people to vote.

If the lawsuit had succeeded, Missourians could have voted for president, governor and other officials between Oct. 19 and Oct. 27.

Robin Carnahan, Hanaway's Democratic opponent in the November election, said that Hanaway perhaps should have acted sooner in addressing the issue.

"These folks in Jefferson City have had a long time to get something done about this, if they really cared," Carnahan said.

Hanaway countered that lawmakers first had to deal with new federal elections mandates, among other unrelated matters.

The panel's co-chairs will be state Reps. Tom Villa, D-St. Louis, and Bill Deeken, R-Jefferson City.