House Committee discusses proposed citizenship verification for voters

By Brandon Lorenz, Missouri News Network
JEFFERSON CITY — A bill introduced to the House Elections Committee on Tuesday would require citizenship status to be shared between the Department of Motor Vehicles and the secretary of state.
House Bill 2125, introduced by Rep. Brad Banderman, R-St. Clair, expands on existing law. The law requires the secretary of state and the director of Department of Revenue to match information in the voter registration database with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Right now, that information includes an individual’s first and last name, date of birth, and Social Security number. The bill would add requirements that these departments check the citizenship status of individuals.
Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, objected to some wording in the bill but there was little discussion over the need for citizenship checks.
The biggest pushback came to a section of the bill that reinstates the secretary of state’s power to investigate and subpoena individuals based on suspected election offenses. The power expired last August. The claims can be made by anyone to the secretary’s office.
The section speaks specifically on “credible” and “frivolous” claims, however some lawmakers were left uncertain on how these claims would be categorized.
“I do not want to empower the secretary of state with (subpoena) power,” Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, said. “Those are subjective determinations whether something is frivolous.”
The bill also extends the deadline of the subpoena power to 2031.
“I feel like this subpoena power is very important, no matter who the secretary of state, no matter the party. This is an important tool that our secretary of state should have,” Banderman said.
The committee also heard HB 1812, proposed by Rep. Mark Nolte, R-Higginsville. This bill requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to report death certificates to the secretary of state on a monthly basis.
Under the bill, the secretary of state will then notify local election authorities of the deaths, and they will be removed from the voter rolls.
Some concern was brought about individuals with similar names, however Nolte says that these reports will come with Social Security numbers to ensure that the individuals being removed are the correct individuals.