File #: 15887    Version: Name: Opposition voter eligibility
Type: Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 5/9/2006 In control: Legislature As A Whole
On agenda: 5/9/2006 Final action: 5/15/2006
Title: A RESOLUTION expressing the opposition of the Legislature to Missouri Senate Bill 1014 which requires that voters unnecessarily show federal or Missouri photo identification cards at the polls for voter eligibility.
Sponsors: Henry C. Rizzo, Dennis Waits, Dan Tarwater III, Scott Burnett, Eugene Standifer Jr.
Indexes: SENATE BILL 1014, VOTER ELIGIBILITY

Floor Substitute

Legislature As A Whole

May 15, 2006

 

IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI

 

Title

A RESOLUTION expressing the opposition of the Legislature to Missouri Senate Bill 1014  which requires that voters unnecessarily show federal or Missouri photo identification cards at the polls for voter eligibility.

 

 

Intro

RESOLUTION # 15887,   May 9, 2006

 

INTRODUCED BY                      Henry C. Rizzo, Dennis Waits, Dan Tarwater, Scott Burnett,

                                                               and Eugene Standifer, Jr., County Legislators

 

 

Body

WHEREAS, Article XV of the United States Constitution, states that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged;" and,

 

WHEREAS, Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution provides that "all citizens of the United States, including occupants of soldiers' and sailors' homes, over the age of eighteen who are residents of this state and of the political subdivision in which they offer to vote are entitled to vote at all elections by the people;" and,

 

WHEREAS, voting is a right, not a privilege, and both the United States and Missouri Constitutions have gone to great lengths to prohibit discrimination at the polls; and,

 

WHEREAS, Missouri Senate Bill 1014, if adopted, would require voters to produce state or federal photographic identification at the polling place to be eligible to vote; and, 

 

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 1014 threatens to exclude nearly 200,000 eligible Missouri voters, with its greatest damage to be done to the voices of the poor, minorities, elderly, and new immigrants; and,

 

WHEREAS, this Bill is inherently inconsistent with the Help America Vote Act which provides a broad range of identification documents for voter eligibility; now therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, with the exception of Bob Spence and Rhonda Shoemaker, that the Legislature opposes Missouri Senate Bill 1014 and urges Governor Matt Blunt to veto it.

 

 

Enacted and Approved

Effective Date:  This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.

 

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

 

_________________________                                       _________________________________

Chief Deputy County Counselor                                                County Counselor

 

Certificate of Passage

 

     I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution # 15887 of May 9, 2006 was duly passed on ___________May 15__________________, 2006 by the Jackson County Legislature.  The votes thereon were as follows:

 

                     Yeas ________6_________                     Nays ______2_______

 

                     Abstaining ______0_______                     Absent _____1_______

 

 

______________________                       _____________________________________

Date                                                                                                         Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature