A Missouri state law requiring a photo ID to vote will remain intact.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Monday that a lawsuit challenging the photo ID requirement lacks standing.
In his ruling, Beetem said the individual plaintiffs did not provide “sufficient evidence” that they are harmed by the law’s voter ID provisions.
He also said the organizational plaintiffs, which include the Missouri NAACP, “have not satisfied the test for organizational standing or harm to their proprietary interests.”
Beetem said even if the plaintiffs did have standing, lawmakers passed House Bill 1878 “in response to a 2016 Missouri constitutional amendment authorizing voter ID.”
“And the law is consistent with that constitutional provision,” Beetem said.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, state Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the ruling was a “huge win for election security.”
Missouri lawmakers passed a wide-ranging elections bill in 2022. Included in the law was the photo ID requirement. It also established two weeks of no excuse, in person absentee voting.
Beetem heard the case challenging the law in November 2023.
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