St. Louis Post-Dispatch Letter to the Editor Published TODAY!

We are very proud of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch enough for taking a stand AGAINST Photo ID and the state legislature’s attempt to tack a feeble early voting reform onto it.  Read our letter to the PD below which we sent in response to their Editorial entitled Partisans who mess with voters’ rights are playing with fire. 

Tying voter ID to early voting is an underhanded move to suppress voters

Thursday, Apr. 16 2009

Tying voter ID to early voting is an underhanded move to suppress voters
We applaud the paper's efforts to speak out against HJR 9, the snowballing
photo identification constitutional amendment being pushed through the state
legislature this year.

As the editorial "Early voting gets a poison pill" (April 10) shrewdly pointed
out, this law is unnecessary, expensive and a clear impediment to making sure
that every eligible voter is able to vote. We were extremely disappointed that
the Elections Committee refused to hold a public hearing on the bill after 10
pages of changes were added, thereby changing its intent and impact
dramatically. It is important that concerned voters, advocates and affected
organizations share their views on such proposals before they are passed.

Tying voter deterrence legislation like photo identification to a good
government measure like early voting is illogical and underhanded. To make
matters even worse, HJR 9 is a constitutional amendment that was poorly written
and overrides pages of pre-existing absentee voting statutes that protect
disabled and military voters. If HJR 9 passed in its current form, it
potentially could disenfranchise up to 200,000 voters, and the secretary of
state estimates that 10,000 overseas military voters and 15,000 disabled voters
would be hurt as well.

We call HJR 9 for what it is: A merciless and unnecessary reform that uses an
inadequate early voting reform as a disguise to hurt the most vulnerable voters
in this state.

Denise Lieberman – St. Louis
Bob Quinn – Jefferson City
Spokespersons for the Missourians for Fair Elections Coalition