IN SUPPORT OF EARLY VOTING IN MISSOURI Commission on Early Voting, Secretary of State Jason Kander Thank you for the opportunity to provide information to the Missouri Early Voting Commission. Advancement Project is a leading non-partisan national voting rights organization that works to advance a just democracy. 1 Since 2000, we have worked closely with a broad array of community, voter registration, and GOTV groups, statewide civic engagement coalitions, national partners and election officials to eliminate barriers to voting. We have done this in many key states, including Missouri, in which we have worked closely on the ground with election officials, the Secretary of State s Office, citizens, community organizations and civic engagement groups. We have recognized expertise in voting rights and election law nationwide and in Missouri, presenting testimony before Congress and to legislatures around the country, and litigating high impact voting cases in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas and Missouri. In Missouri, Advancement Project coordinates the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, a collaboration of approximately two-dozen nonpartisan organizations dedicated to ensuring that eligible voters are able to cast a ballot. Advancement Project also coordinates non-partisan Election Protection and election monitoring efforts in Missouri, tracking voting issues across the state on Election Day. The 2012 elections highlighted the need and generated momentum for reform, as voters braved long lines and other barriers in Missouri and around the country on Election Day. Although the resolve of voters who waited in line for up to eight hours around the country was inspiring, it proved that elections administration is in need of reform. Numerous studies have shown that long lines keep eligible voters from voting. 2 As the leading democracy in the world, we should work to facilitate not restrict access to voting. As President Obama declared in his inaugural address: Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. 3 1 2 3 Advancement Project is a non-partisan civil rights organization with a Voter Protection Program in Missouri that works to eliminate legal and structural barriers to voting through legal and legislative advoacy, strategic communications, public education and litigation. Denise Lieberman serves as Senior Attorney in the voter protection program as well as voter protection advocate for Missouri. She has more than 15 years experience as a constitutional and civil rights lawyer, is recognized as a national expert on election law, is an expert in Missouri election law and teaches political science and law at Washington University in St. Louis, including courses on voting rights and election law. Scott Powers and David Damron, Analysis: 201,000 in Florida Didn t Vote Because of Long Lines, Orlando Sentinal, Jan. 23, 2013, available at http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-01-23/business/os-voter-linesstatewide- 20130118_1_long-lines-sentinel-analysis-state-ken-detzner, citing analysis of Ohio State Professor Theodore Allen; See, e.g., Benjamin Highton, Long Lines, Voting Machine Availability, and Turnout: the Case of Franklin County, Ohio in the 2004 Presidential Election, 39 PS: POL. SCI. & POLS. 65 (2006), available at http://faculty.psdomain.ucdavis.edu/bhighton/copenhagen2012/readings/highton_lines_ps_2006.pdf; THEODORE T.ALLEN, MIKHAIL BERNSHTEYN & CHRIS ROCKWELL, HELPING FRANKLIN COUNTY VOTE IN 2008: WAITING LINES, (2008), available at http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/assets/pdf/2008/general/gen2008-votingmachineallocation.pdf Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama, Jan. 21, 2013, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2013/01/21/inaugural-address-president-barack-obama.
Early Voting A Solution for Missouri Missouri was no exception. Our Election Protection reports show that many poll locations in Missouri were beset with long lines on Election Day. In some instances voters were forced to leave the polls and unable to vote because of the long lines. A number of locations reported lines of 2 hours or more, and a few had lines more than three hours. While this is an improvement to the 6-hour wait times reported in some polls in Missouri in 2008, 4 it is still unacceptable. Long lines and other logistical burdens on Election Day would be relieved if early voting were established in Missouri. Missouri law currently provides for elections to be held on a single day. 5 Missouri s former top elections official recommended that the legislature allow for early voting to increase convenience for voters, lessen the burden on poll workers an reduce polling place lines on election day. 6 Advancement Project urges this Commission to support amending Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.276 to establish effective an early voting mechanism that ensures sufficient duration, hours and locations for voters to cast advance ballots in Missouri. In addition, we urge the commission to to support expanded opportunities to vote absentee. Missouri law currently strictly limits the circumstances under which a voter may vote absentee. 7 Our interactions with thousands of Missouri voters reveal that many voters who have difficulty voting on Election Day or are unable to wait in long Election Day lines nevertheless do not qualify for absentee voting status. This results in poor administration of the absentee balloting process and contributes to longer lines on Election Day. Accordingly, we recommend that Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.277 be amended to provide for no-excuse absentee voting, as has been proposed in the past. 8 Advancement Project thus urges the Missouri Early Voting Commission to recommend eliminating the current needlessly restricive absentee voting scheme in Missouri and recommend that the legislature: l Enact legislation amending Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.276 to establish effective early voting that includes sufficient voting times and locations. l Establish no-excuse absentee voting by amending Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.277 to allow all registered voters to vote absentee regardless of reason. Early Voting in the States Early voting is an increasingly preferred method of voting in America, and the majority of states now have laws allowing voters to cast ballots in advance of Election Day. Today, Election Day is merely the last day a voter can cast a ballot, according to elections expert Doug Chapin, with the Pew Center on the States. 9 In-person early voting with no excuse is allowed in 32 states and the District of 4 See Seven-hour waits reported in Missouri city, CNN, Nov. 4, 2008, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/category/voter-problems; Wait times reach 4 to 6 hours in St. Louis area, CNN, Nov. 4, 2008, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/category/voter-problems. 5 Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.123.1 6 See Voters First: An Examination of Missouri s 2008 State and Federal Elections, Report from the Office of Secretary of State, Apr. 2009, at 24, available at: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/votersfirst/2008/votersfirst2008final.pdf. 7 Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.277. 8 See, e.g., HB 1836 (MO 2010) (Zimmerman); HB 1839 (MO 2010) (Zimmerman); HB 2195 (MO 2010) (LeBlanc) (allowing any voter to vote by absentee without providing a reason). 9 Doug Chapin, "Non-Precinct Place Voting and Election Administration, Election Law Journal, available at: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/elj.2011.1035
Columbia. 10 No-excuse absentee voting is allowed in 27 states and the District of Columbia. 11 Missouri does not allow for either, and is in the minority in this regard. More and more voters across America are making use of early voting. In the last decade, the percentage of people casting early ballots at in person voting sites increased five-fold. 12 In 2000, just 16% of votes were cast in advance of election day. By 2008, 30.2% of votes were cast before election day, and in 2012, approximately 35% of votes more than a third of all votes cast were early votes. 13 In contrast, due to Missouri s more restrictive laws governing advance voting (excuse-only absentee balloting, and no early voting), about 11% of votes in Missouri are cast in advance of Election Day through its excuse-only absentee voting process. 14 Early voting can take several forms. In-person early voting is more prevalent in states like North Carolina, Goeorgia, Texas and Indiana, which provide for special early voting centers for voters to cast ballots in advance of Election Day. States like Oregon, Washington operate all-mail elections. Some like California and Colorado allow persons to request that they vote by mail in all future elections. Early voting tends to have bipartisan support, favored by voters of all political stripes. 15 Currently, there are bills to implement or exapnd early voting opportunities proposed in 11 states in 2013. Impact of Early Voting Early voting alleviates long lines, eases the burden on overworked poll workers on Election Day, and, when administered effectively, increases turnout of eligible voters. Early voting reduces long lines on election day by: Reducing the large numbers of voters appearing to vote at one time on Election Day Allows elections to run more smoothly on Election Day Reduces overload of poll workers Ameliorates the fallout and long lines that result from unanticipated problems or giltches on Election Day, such as voting machine breakdowns, electrical outages, severe weather, poll book glitches, or overload or lack of access to the online voter registration database, all of which have happened in Missouri. Many factors contribute to long lines, and early voting helps ensure that eligible voters need not 10 Absentee and Early Voting, National Conference of State Legislatures, available at: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatureselections/elections/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx 11 12 R. MICHAEL ALVAREZ ET AL., 2008 SURVEY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS (2009), available at http://www.vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/report/final%20report20090218.pdf; AFL-CIO, 2012 ELECTION NIGHT SURVEYS (2012), available at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tgqprvxj5odgspf4clas1hkvmrzm4uf70gso4iua1o/edit#slide=id.p58 13 Michael MacDonald, George Mason University, 2012 Early Voting Statistics, http://elections.gmu.edu/early_vote_2012.html; (Nearly) Final 2008 Early Voting Statistics, http://elections.gmu.edu/early_voting_2008_final.html 14 15 See, Brennan Center for Justice, How to Fix Long Lines, January 23, 2013, available at: http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/how_to_fix_long_lines.pdf. A 2005 survey of likely voters showed that 69% of Democrats, 66.4% of Independents and 53.4% of Republicans favored the ballot issue allowing for early voting in Ohio. Ray C. Bliss, The 2005 Ohio Ballot Initiatives: Public Opinion on Issues 1-5 (2005), available at, http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/research/archives/2005/finalballotissuereport.pdf.
choose between waiting for hours on end or not voting at all. Early voting has bipartisan support from democrat and republican leaders, 16 and has proven successful when implemented effectively. The impact of early voting on long lines is vividly portrayed in states that eliminated or lacked opportunities to vote early in 2012. In Pennsylvania, which lacks early voting, and in Ohio, which cut early voting, lines were so long that voters were forced to walk away without voting. 17 In Florida, early voting was cut in half from 14 days to 8 days. 18 As a result, Florida saw extremely long lines both during early voting and on Election Day in 2012 some with wait times up to eight hours. 19 In Miami- Dade and Palm Beach Counties, notoriously long lines caused some voters on Saturday November 3 to stay well past midnight. Palm Beach County didn t wrap up voting until 2:30 a.m. 20 On Election night, some voters in Florida were still casting ballots past midnight. 21 One study found that more than 200,000 voters were deterred from voting in Florida due to long lines. 22 A Dartmouth University study found that racial minorities were disproportionately impacted by cuts to early voting and the long lines that followed in 2012. 23 Consider the impact of unanticipated emergencies, such as Superstorm Sandy, whose fallout resulted in multi-hour long lines on Election Day in New York and New Jersey. 24 Studies of the impact of early voting on turnout show that if administered effectively, early voting can 16 See Aaron Deslatte and Scott Powers, Scott Backs Ballot Limit, Expanded Early Voting, Orlando Sentinal, Jan. 17, 2013, available at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-scott-backs-new-voting-rules- 20130117,0,4732530.story; Michael Dresser and Erin Cox, O Malley Proposes Expanded Early Voting, The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 18, 2013, available at http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-01-18/news/bal-omalley-topropose-expandedearly-voting-20130118_1_general-elections-primary-elections-cast-ballots; Pamela Brust, Early Voting Report Indicates Lower Cost and Wait Time, Parkersburg News & Sentinal, Jan. 15, 2013, available at http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/569669/early-voting-report-indicates-lower-cost-andwaittime.html?nav=5061. 17 Matt Smith. Long Lines but Few Snags in U.S. Election, CNN, Nov. 6, 2012, available at http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/politics/election-voting/index.html. 18 HB1355 (FL 2011), available at: http://laws.flrules.org/2011/40 19 Renee Montagne and Greg Allen, Disputes Over Early Voting Ignite in Florida, NPR.ORG, available at http://www.npr.org/2012/11/05/164314546/disputes-over-early-voting-ignite-in-florida;deborah Charles, Election System Needs an Overhaul, But It s Not That Easy, Reuters, Nov. 8, 2012, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-usa-campaign-voting-idusbre8a71f820121108; Amanda Terkel, Florida Early Voting Fiasco: Voters Wait for Hours at Polls As Rick Scott Refuses to Budge, The Huffington Post, Nov. 4, 2012, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/florida-early-voting_n_2073119.html. 20 See Early Voting Ends With Long Lines, Long Waits, CBS News Report, Nov. 4, 2012, available at http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/11/04/early-voting-ends-with-long-lines-long-waits; Another election, another legal tangle in Florida, Sun Sentinel, Nov. 5, 2012, available at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-florida-votingmess-20121105,0,6901020,full.story. 21 Greg Gordon and Tony Pugh, Voters Endure Long Waits, Irregularities in Some States, The Seattle Times, Nov. 6, 2012, available at http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019621099_elexvoting07.html. 22 Scott Powers and David Damron, Analysis: 201,000 in Florida Didn t Vote Because of Long Lines, Orlando Sentinal, Jan. 23, 2013, available at http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-01-23/business/os-voter-linesstatewide- 20130118_1_long-lines-sentinel-analysis-state-ken-detzner, 23 Michael C. Herron & Daniel A. Smith, Early Voting in Florida in 2012, Nov. 7, 2012 http://www.dartmouth.edu/~herron/herronsmithfloridaearly2012.pdf. The report reviewed 67 county early voting files made public by the Florida Department of State, and disaggregated the 2.4 million early votes cast by race and ethnicity. The report concluded: Insofar as the longest early voting lines appear to have occurred on the day in which minority voter turnout was the greatest, it appears that minority voters, and in particular black voters, have borne heavily the burden of House Bill 1355. 24 Sarah Wolfe, Election Day: Long Voting Lines Reported across United States, Global Post, Nov. 6, 2012, available at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121106/election-day-longvoting-linesreported.
increase voter turnout. 25 One study from the University of Wisconsin found that when aspects of the voting process are facilitated, such as easier access to voter registration, turnout increases with early voting. 26 The study found that states that allowed voters to register and cast an early ballot on the same day in showed turnout levels higher than the national average. 27 Some states, including North Carolina, Iowa and Wyoming, have some form of early same-day and Election Day registration. Ohio has Golden week, a time during the early voting period when voters can register and vote at the same time. These faciliate access for voters. The best early voting laws not only facilitate voter registration, but also ensure sufficient time frames, hours and locations for voters to cast early ballots. Early voting data from 2012 analyzed by the Pew Center on the States found that voters took advantage of early voting at higher rates in states whose laws facilitae early voting through ample time frames, hours and locations -- with more than half of the 3.6 million voters in Colorado casting early ballots; nearly half of voters in Nevada (which allows voters to cast early ballots at any early voting center in their jurisdiction); more than 40% in North Carolina (which allows registration at the same time as early voting) and more than 35% in Florida. 28 Effective Early Voting Effective early voting laws ensure adequate duration, hours and locations to cast ballots. Advancement Project recommends the following early voting standards, which have also been endorsed by the Brennan Center for Justice: 29 Duration at least 10 weekdays and two weekends of early voting, including the weekend before election day. In North Carolina, for example, early voting begins nineteen days before the election and ends the Saturday before the election. Hours at least some hours that extend beyond regular work hours during the week, and available hours over the weekend. This helps ensure that voters not be forced to choose between work and voting. Locations Establishing locations based on a uniform standard, such as voting population, to ensure that early voting locations are accessible to voters. This helps ensure equality of access. In Nevada, for example, the state offers multiple locations in each county to vote and allows voters to vote at any early voting location in their county. Jurisdiction-wide centers estabishing early voting centers, where anyone who is registered in the jurisdiction can cast a ballot. In North Carolina, for example, voters can vote at any One- Stop location in the county in which they are registered. This allows voters to vote where it is most convenient for them. A glimpse of a more robust democracy prevailed in 2012 as voters pushed back against restrictive new voting laws. As they braved long lines and barriers on Election Day, we saw voters determination to cast a ballot. We saw it in the long lines at polling places in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, as citizens 25 26 27 28 29 Bill Turque, The Real Impact of Early Voting, Washington Post, Oct. 1, 2012, available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/10/01/the-real-impact-of-early-voting/ Pew Center on the States, Early Voting in Battleground States, http://www.pewstates.org/research/analysis/earlyvoting-in-battleground-states-85899428345 Brennan Center for Justice, How to Fix Long Lines, January 23, 2013, available at: http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/how_to_fix_long_lines.pdf.
showed up for early voting in record numbers. We saw it when Florida poll workers closed their doors on an unexpectedly massive crowd of early voters, only to be met with chants of "We want to vote!" We saw it in black church leaders who, in response to Florida's elimination of the last Sunday of early voting, set a new date for their "Souls to the Polls" voter mobilization campaign -- and made history with a larger-than-ever early voting turnout. But thousands of citizens were forced to wait in hours long lines and improperly made to cast provisional ballots, often due to confusion by overworked poll workers on Election Day, circumstances made all the worse by and that further exacerbated long lines. We must fix that. A democracy is measured by the ability of its citizens to participate in the process. Missouri s restrictive absentee voting system is antiquated and fails to meet the needs of today s voters. Effective early voting that affords sufficient duration, hours and locations to cast ballots in advance of Election Day would facilitae voting for thousands of Missouri voters. 30 Advancement Project thus urges the Missouri Early Voting Commission to recommend that the legislature: l Enact legislation amending Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.276 to establish effective early voting that includes sufficient voting times, inclucing evening and weekend hours and locations based on voting population. l Establish no-excuse absentee voting by amending Mo. Rev. Stat. 115.277 to allow all registered voters to vote absentee regardless of reason. Do not hestitate to contact me if I can provide further information to the Commission. Respectfully Submitted, Denise Lieberman, Esq., Senior Attorney Advancement Project National Office: 6047 Waterman Blvd. 1220 L Street NW, Suite 850 St. Louis, MO 63112 Washington, D.C. 20005 (314) 780-1833 www.advancementproject.org 30 See, Modernize Registration and Require Early Voting Periods, New York Times, Feb. 11, 2013, available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/opinion/voting-should-be-easy-modernize-registration.html?ref=politics&_r=2&