House, Senate give initial OK to election law changes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to election law bills allowing early voting in presidential elections and provisional ballots for people whose eligibility is questioned.

The House and Senate each approved bills by voice votes after several hours of debate over three days. Another vote is needed to send the bills to the opposing chambers for consideration.

"I think we did very well," said Rep. Jim Seigfreid, D-Marshall, sponsor of the House bill. "When you get to dealing with elections, everybody has a different opinion."

Provisions of both the House and Senate bills would be effective for the 2004 elections.

Both versions would allow for "provisional" voting in statewide and federal elections by people whose eligibility may be in question, and 14 days of advance voting in presidential election years.

"People will feel more confident going to the ballot box," said sponsoring Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-St. Louis. "It streamlines things we've had problems with before."

Inaugural bills

The House bill also would require governors' inaugural committees to publicly report their finances if they want to receive state money. That provision had been a Republican issue since Democratic Gov. Bob Holden spent $1 million on his inauguration festivities last year, largely through private donations.

House Minority Leader Catherine Hanaway said she was pleased with the provisional and early voting sections."I think we made some progress," said Hanaway, R-Warson Woods.

But she was concerned that the House version lacked language giving the secretary of state subpoena power to investigate suspected voting irregularities and fraud.

The Senate bill, as amended Wednesday, allows the secretary of state's office to launch an investigation, for which the attorney general would have subpoena power. The original bill would have given the secretary of state subpoena power.

Hanaway also was displeased that the House killed two amendments -- one to require specific forms of voter identification and another to require the governor to call a special election within 30 days after a vacancy occurs in the Legislature.

"The problem is that the governor can call special elections in legislative districts controlled by his own party and delay or refuse to call special elections in districts where his party is likely to lose an election," Hanaway said.

Included in the House and Senate bills are grant programs, dependent on funding, for computerizing and improving election systems.

Efforts to revise Missouri's election laws are partly a response to the snags in Florida that temporarily cast doubt on the outcome of the 2000 presidential race. In addition, Secretary of State Matt Blunt released a report concluding that court orders issued in the city and county of St. Louis improperly allowed 1,233 people to vote in November 2000.

Election bills are HB1461 (Seigfreid) and SB675 (Yeckel).