Missouri election officials assure voting systems are safe, reliable

COLUMBIA MO. (KMIZ)

After a national address from President Donald Trump at the White House, in which the president claimed declassified documents revealed vulnerabilities in the country's election systems, some election officials in Missouri are reassuring the systems are secure.

In his speech, President Trump claimed there were more than a quarter of a million non-citizens on voter rolls, but did not provide specific evidence that any votes or election outcomes in 2020 had been altered.

Trump used his speech to also urge Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would include new voter I-D requirements. The act has stalled in the Senate, and Republicans said they don't have the votes.

Boone County Election Clerk Brianna Lennon said that she did not pay much attention to the President's speech, but expressed confidence in election laws in Missouri.

"You know, I think given that elections are so decentralized and how little role the federal government has to play in our local elections, I don't think very much of what the federal government is doing in terms of, like, elections administration has an impact on Boone County," Lennon said.

Lennon added that in past legislative sessions, the state has actually strengthened election laws.

That includes House Bill 1871, a newly-signed law that will specifically target election scheduling, voter access rules, and candidate requirements.

The bill will also allow people who show up to vote in-person absentee without an I-D to cast a provisional ballot.

Lennon said that while the average voter might not notice the effects, the bill has very positive election administrator changes.

“It allows us to make sure that people can access provisional ballots during absentee voting. It allows us to make sure we're serving military and overseas voters in a more consistent way," Lennon said.

Additionally, Lennon adds that the Boone County Clerk's Office has been hard at work ensuring the upcoming August 4th election goes smoothly.

Lennon said they just finished logic and accuracy testing of voting equipment. She added that every voter uses a paper ballot—marked either by hand or via an accessible touchscreen—which is then processed by a tabulator that bipartisan teams thoroughly test before each election.

Lennon said the clerk's office is also in the process of training election judges ahead of the election.

When it comes to voter registration in the state, Missouri does not require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Clinton Jenkins, the President of the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities, said that the state only requires voters to check "yes" to indicate that they are a citizen.

“The only thing that's on there for an application for registration is it just asks, are you a citizen of the United States, yes or no? So right now, we really don't have the authority to ask for proof of citizenship when somebody registers to vote," Jenkins said.

Lennon said she believes the process is a great way to ensure voters are attesting their citizenship.

“I think checking yes or no is a great way to ensure that people are doing what they are supposed to do, because they're testing under penalty of perjury," she said.

Lennon said that despite national rhetoric, illegal voting is practically nonexistent in local elections.

"I have not experienced, nor do I think any of my colleagues have experienced a vast number of people who are not eligible to cast ballots in the state of Missouri," she said.

Both officials agree that if any changes are made to existing voter registration regulations, they would want to ensure it does not make the election process harder for citizens or clerks.

“I think if we're going to talk about doing verification or additional requirements on voters or additional requirements and elections administrators, we need to make sure that what we're doing doesn't make the voting process harder," Lennon said.

"We don't want to add any hurdles to, you know, American citizens applying and registering for their right to vote," Jenkins said.