Judge Jon Beetem has made permanent an injunction blocking  four provisions of HB1878 challenged by the League of Women Voters of Missouri (LWVMO) and the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, finding “they are overbroad and impair a wide swath of constitutionally protected rights of speech, expression, and association.”

“The League has worked since 1919 to educate and empower voters, but HB 1878 criminalized some of our work, including giving someone a blank absentee ballot request form or encouraging a new citizen to register to vote,” said LWVMO President Marilyn McLeod. “We are pleased that the court recognized that these restrictions in HB1878 were unreasonable and violated our constitutional rights." 

The anti-voter law the legislature passed in 2022 was vaguely worded and did not define what it means to “solicit” voter registration or an absentee ballot application. Failing to comply with the absentee ballot solicitation prohibition would have been a Class 3 election offense with penalties that include permanently taking away someone's right to vote.

The four blocked provisions include criminal prohibitions on compensating non-governmental employees from registering voters; soliciting a voter to obtain an absentee ballot application; anyone other than Missouri registered voters engaging in voter registration; and requiring volunteers who will register more than 10 voters to apply with the Secretary of State’s office.

The League and NAACP were represented in the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. In a joint statement, the legal team said, “ We are gratified that the court saw these sham restrictions as an unconstitutional attempt to stop civic engagement organizations from encouraging participation in our democracy.” 

Click here to read the full opinion.