State rep hopeful challenges voter registration requirement
A candidate for a Missouri House of Representatives seat says unconstitutional requirements are holding her back.
Rachel Johns, a 25-year-old woman from St. Louis, filed suit against Attorney General Chris Koster and Secretary of State Jason Kander Thursday in Cole County circuit court. Johns is currently seeking the Democratic nomination for House District 76, which represents part of the St. Louis’ north side. Incumbent Joshua Peters is running again for the seat, with no Republican opposition. Johns asked the court stop Koster and Kander from enforcing the rule that may stop her from appearing on the ballot.
Mexico attorney Dave Roland filed the lawsuit on Johns’ behalf, calling into question Missouri’s requirement for candidates to be registered voters for two years in the state. Roland said the “durational voter registration requirement” violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Peters claimed on April 1 Johns could not run, because she registered to vote in Missouri in February 2015.
The lawsuit describes Johns as a woman “disillusioned with Missouri’s political system; particularly in the wake of Michael Brown’s killing in Ferguson, Missouri, and the following protests (in which she was an active participant)…” She decided not to register to vote as a sign of protest, the suit said, since Johns believed “the system was so dominated by entrenched interests and stacked against ordinary citizens.” However, local efforts to establish a citizens’ oversight board in St. Louis and other “instances of local activism” put her in touch with other politicians that “inspired her” to work towards redeeming the political system by working within it.
“On February 4, 2015, after very careful deliberation and soul-searching, Johns ended her political protest and registered to vote,” the suit said.
Roland wrote that it’s up to the government to prove its restriction serves the public interest. Missouri does not have similar restrictions for executive positions, but does require judges and state senators to be “qualified voters” of varying time lengths before running. Roland argues that “the mere act of registering to vote does not indicate that the person who is registered has any particular interest in or understanding of public affairs.”
Denying Johns’ spot on the August primary ballot would also hurt voters in the district by denying them a choice other than Peters, the petition said.
Rep. Peters filed suit against Johns on April 1 in St. Louis City circuit court. Both candidates filed to run on February 23, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
