SPONSOR: Billington
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Elections and Elected Officials by a vote of 7 to 3. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Administrative Oversight by a vote of 7 to 3.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 1362.
This bill prohibits individuals or organizations, including election authorities and boards of election, from distributing unsolicited applications for absentee ballots by mail, email, or other means. A violation of the bill's provisions will be a class four election offense.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that the bill will help prevent some types of election fraud and give the general public confidence in the security of the election system. Many individuals prefer not to be randomly solicited about their voting intentions.
Testifying for the bill was Representative Billington.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that it is unnecessary to prevent election fraud and that many people or organizations provide ballot applications to voters. Making applications available might be needed to ensure voter turnout during pandemics such as the COVID-19 crisis.
Testifying against the bill were Mary Hellwig; Arnie C. Dienoff; Joan Gentry; Marsha Lerenberg; Shelby Butler, Empower: Abilities; Susan Gibson; Dan Kent Deplois; Paul Leykamp; Don Crozier; and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: