Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander is urging House Speaker Tim Jones to take up early voting initiatives.
Kander wrote a letter today in response to an interview Jones gave earlier this month in which Jones questioned the importance of early voting.
Kander asked Jones to assign a Republican early voting bill to a committee, saying the issue has had bipartisan support over the years.
“We’re one of only 15 states in the country that doesn’t have some form of early voting,” Kander stated in a phone interview. “So Missourians want a fair, secure and convenient way for eligible voters to cast a ballot. This legislation, which was filed by a Republican and supported by a Democratic Secretary of State, gives them that opportunity.”
Kander formed a bipartisan Early Voting Commission that has approved a plan to make early voting less expensive than an effort endorsed by former Governor Matt Blunt more than a decade ago. Kander says that the legislation would only cost Missouri $100,000 over a four year period and would limit satellite locations for early voting to counties with more than 175,000 registered voters.
- See Kander’s letter, as well as the Early Voting Commission Report and Blunt’s initial early voting report.