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Missouri to Mandate Photo ID for Voters

Secretary of state calls for special session to appropriate $6 million necessary to implement law

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, in a letter to Governor Matt Blunt, has requested a special session of the state Legislature to fund a new requirement -- outlined in Senate Bill 1014 -- that citizens must present a government-issued photo ID in order to vote.

According to Carnahan's letter, the governor has indicated he will sign SB 1014 into law, thereby disenfranchising as many as 170,000 legitimate voters who do not possess such photo identification.

Carnahan estimates the costs of implementation at state and local levels will be about $6 million.
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.