Appeals court sends voter ID funding lawsuit back to Cole County

Another lawsuit over the state’s voter ID law will head to Cole County court.

An appeals court reversed Judge Jon Beetem’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit from the state chapters of the NAACP and League of Women Voters over how the state is implementing the new law. The lawsuit claims the state legislature is underfunding the executive branch’s ability to properly implement the law.

The appeals court disagreed with all four points of the state’s arguments on sovereign immunity, ripeness, the necessity to include local election authorities and that the groups didn’t have a claim for relief.

The lawsuit, brought by the ACLU, seeks to block enforcement of the requirement to present a form of identification in order to vote because of the lack of funding. While the General Assembly provided $1.5 million to the secretary of state’s office and $100,000 to the Department of Revenue, the lawsuit claims it would take $6 million to adequately enforce the law.

The court ruled that dismissing the lawsuit was a “reversible error” because the legislature’s appropriation came up short from the amount the executive branch estimated it would cost to follow the law. Passed by voters in 2016, the law requires state agencies provide people with nondriver’s licenses if they have no form of photo ID and help get a hold of documents from other states in order to get that ID.

Sophia Lakin, attorney the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project that argued the appeal, said she was gratified that the appeals court agreed with them. She said the lack of funding makes it difficult for the state to provide “advance notice” of the ID requirement.

“Those provisions are good provisions, I would say, but they are only as good as they are funded properly and implemented adequately,” Lakin said.

The decision follows a special judge’s ruling to stop the state from enforcing a part of the law that requires some people without a photo ID to sign a sworn affidavit in order to vote. The decision from Judge Richard Callahan also stopped the state from advertising that a photo ID was necessary to vote, as well. Voters can show things like a utility bill or bank statement, as long as it has the person’s name and current address on it.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said the lawsuit was a waste of the court’s time.

“This is just another attempt by the same organizations to throw out a state law passed by the general assembly and approved by 63 percent of Missouri voters in 2016,” Ashcroft said. “It’s unfortunate that these same organizations continue to desperately challenge a law already held as constitutional, and continue to force taxpayers to spend state resources refuting these challenges. Opponents still haven’t found a single individual unable to vote because of this law.”

Mary Compton, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said it was reviewing the decision.