SPONSOR: Baker
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Elections and Elected Officials by a vote of 9 to 4. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Administrative Oversight by a vote of 7 to 2.
Upon voter approval, this resolution specifies that only citizens of the United States shall be entitled to vote in public elections.
The resolution specifies that all elections be by paper ballot, as well as any mechanical method prescribed by law.
This resolution mandates that voters have only a single vote for each issue or number of open seats to be voted on at an election.
The resolution provides that the person receiving the greatest number of votes at a primary election as a party candidate for an office be the only candidate for that party at the general election, unless removed or replaced as provided by law. The person receiving the greatest number of votes at the general election be declared the winner.
The resolution specifies that voting machines be tested and certified as secure in accordance with Federal standards prior to each election in which they will be used.
This bill is the same as HJR 66 (2023).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that the provisions of this resolution are current law. This would simply allow voters the choice to protect the current voting process by adding it to the Constitution. The purpose of this would be to prevent any future attempt to implement ranked choice voting. Adding this to the Constitution would improve public trust in elections.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Baker; Heritage Action for America; Opportunity Solutions Project; Jen Houcek; and Liberty Link Missouri.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that this resolution is completely unnecessary because every provision of it is current law. Putting these issues on the ballot communicates to the electorate the idea that this isn't the current process, which undermines public confidence in elections. It both feeds into election-related conspiracy theories and simultaneously takes options away from local communities for determining how to run their elections.
Testifying in person against the bill were Missouri Voter Protection Coalition; and Arnie C. Dienoff .
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.