Watching the election news in other states and wondering what would help make Missouri’s elections safer for voters during the pandemic? Here’s 5 state-level things:

1. Allow all voters to cast absentee ballots by explicitly stating that voters practicing social distancing or self-quarantine as a result of COVID-19 are voting absentee due to incapacity or confinement due to illness or injury.

2. Legislatively approve the use of absentee ballot drop-off boxes for voters to conveniently and securely return their ballot to local election authorities.

3. Modernize absentee ballot requests by creating a statewide online absentee ballot request application. (Boone County voters can use the online application at http://vote.boonemo.org )

4. Facilitate election administration by allowing local election authorities to begin preparing returned absentee ballots as they are received in the office.

5. Provide financial resources for comprehensive voter education and polling place safety. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/cares-act-is-just-a-first-step-in-preparing-for-november-elections/

Successful elections require integrity, security, and accessibility and, in order to deliver the caliber of elections that Missouri voters expect and deserve, we need meaningful modifications to our laws. https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/31/missouri-coronavirus-greene-county-covid-19-clerks-election-changes-pandemic/2928361001/