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Missouri Proposal to Expand Access to Voting Goes to Court

Meiying Wu

A Missouri group pushing to expand access to voting is going to court over how the state's top election official wants to describe the proposal to voters.

The group's attorney Chuck Hatfield argued in Cole County Circuit Court Monday that Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was inaccurate and left out important parts of the proposal in his summaries.

Summaries are used to help voters understand sometimes complicated and lengthy proposals to change state law or the Missouri Constitution.

The proposal at issue would automatically register eligible Missourians to vote when they apply for driver's licenses and state-issued IDs. The measure also would allow voters to vote absentee for any reason, among several other changes.

State attorneys argued Ashcroft's descriptions were adequate, especially considering summaries are limited to 100 words.

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