Should you register to vote in Missouri? Here’s what’s at stake.

| Senior Forum Editor
Illustration by Jordan Spector

This November, Missourians have a chance to make significant change, and it isn’t in the presidential election.

Eligible WashU students who are U.S. citizens can register to vote in Missouri and, if they live within St. Louis County (which includes on-campus housing), can vote at the Athletic Complex. On election day, all you need is a federal photo ID (most commonly a passport) in place of a Missouri ID. The deadline to register is approaching (Oct. 9), but the process is easy, taking no longer than five minutes. 

Everyone should register to vote, but whether you make the decision to switch your voter registration status to Missouri can depend on a number of factors. It is important to weigh what matters most to you. Where do you feel you’ll have the most impact, here or at home? What issues are of top priority to you? 

This year, the election in St. Louis will have sixteen races as well as six ballot measures. Where individual votes may hold the most power is on the ballot measures, including ones regarding the state of reproductive rights and ranked choice voting in Missouri. 

According to Emerson College polling (with a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points), Republicans will have a sweeping victory in most races in Missouri. However, despite ideological leanings, the majority of voters also support Amendment 3, a measure to legally repeal Missouri’s abortion ban

This initiative, protecting the right to reproductive freedom, appears to cross conservative and liberal divides. But more Democratic voters would likely help to strengthen the certainty of its success. 

If you’re a Democrat, like I am, you might wonder, what’s the point of voting here, dropping a speck of blue into a sea of red? If this is a factor you find yourself considering, do not let a sense of powerlessness deter you from voting in Missouri, for there are key issues where your vote really can influence change.

Amendment 3 would adjust the constitution of Missouri to “not discriminate against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care or assisting another person in doing so.” After months of campaigning (including within WashU), opposition from anti-abortion lawmakers, and finally, a favorable ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court, this measure has made its way to the ballot box. 

(Another Amendment 3 won popular support two years ago, legalizing marijuana in the state of Missouri, proof that such measures can make tangible change.)

Amendment 7, the last measure on this upcoming ballot, is also worth noting. Republican politicians proposed this measure in the state congress. After an ironclad filibuster on the part of Democratic lawmakers, it was moved to be included on the voting ballot for citizens to decide on. The measure would restrict ranked choice voting, a system which has been on the rise in public support, created fairer elections where it exists, and prevented the election of candidates who are more extreme (which right-wing politicians have recently become). 

Republicans in Congress added a clause to the beginning of Amendment 7, illegalizing non-U.S. citizen voting: a purely performative action, for non-U.S. citizen voting is already very much illegal. This addition is “ballot candy,” an obviously agreed-upon action distracting from the amendment’s darker voting restrictions hidden in the lines beneath. 

This is another case where the progressive vote is not hopeless or drowned out; it can be used to preserve a fairer electoral system. 

This measure, moved to the ballot box, is now in your hands. The stakes are high, and Missouri, although a solid red state, will have (as they say every year) an unprecedented election. 

It is easy to let history take its course, to tune out of politics and live with whatever outcomes other people decide on. Maybe you don’t care about Missouri politics because you aren’t from here. Maybe you plan on leaving. No matter what, the policies here affect the people and community around you. As a now-Missouri citizen, it is your right to participate in our state’s election process. 

Fellow Democrats: here, the government may seem like an impossible machine programmed against you. To some extent, that’s true. Republican lawmakers will continue trying to restrict your rights, and Missourians will continue voting them into power. 

Democratic lawmakers are not immune to deceitful politics, but in Missouri, many Republican politicians will gerrymander, try to rule your body, and hide voting restrictions in the fine print. 

Now, with the upcoming ballot measures, their policies have reached your hands. In our state, Republicans will always be in action. This November, they feed off your inaction. 

Voting in your home state may still seem more important than voting in Missouri, especially if it is a swing state, and your eyes are (very rightfully) stuck on the top of the ballot. But consider the influence your vote may have here, and know that you have every right to participate.

As a progressive in Missouri, voting is not a lost cause.

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