“…Now I know he went to Yale, I think, or Harvard, one of those, one of those fancy ones…”
Josh Hawley [2016 file photo].
In the Missouri Revised Statutes:
RSMo §115.087. Selection of judges in counties not having a board of election commissioners. — 1. In each county which does not have a board of election commissioners, the election judges shall be selected from lists provided by the county committee of each major political party or as authorized pursuant to section 115.081. Not later than December tenth in each year in which county committeemen are elected, the county committee of each major political party shall submit to the election authority a list of persons qualified to serve as election judges in double the number required to hold a general election in the county. For each election, the election authority shall select and appoint the number of judges required to hold the election. If a county committee fails to present the prescribed number of names of qualified persons by the time prescribed, the election authority may select and appoint the number of judges provided by law for the county committee’s party. If the election authority deems any person on a list to be unqualified, the election authority may request the county committee which submitted the list to furnish another name.
2. The state chairperson of each established political party may, in jurisdictions where no county committee exists and where the county clerk is the election authority, submit a list of persons qualified to serve as election judges to the county clerk. The county clerk may select and appoint additional judges from such list pursuant to section 115.081.
3. County clerks may compile a list of persons who claim no political affiliation and who volunteer to be election judges. A county clerk may select and appoint additional judges from such list pursuant to section 115.081.
RSMo §115.449. Ballots, when and how counted. — 1. As soon as the polls close in each polling place using paper ballots, the election judges shall begin to count the votes. If earlier counting is begun pursuant to section 115.451, the election judges shall complete the count in the manner provided by this section. Once begun, no count shall be adjourned or postponed until all proper votes have been counted.
2. One counting judge, closely observed by the other counting judge, shall take the ballots out of the ballot box one at a time and, holding each ballot in such a way that the other counting judge may read it, shall read the name of each candidate properly voted for and the office sought by each. As each vote is called out, the recording judges shall each record the vote on a tally sheet. The votes for and against all questions shall likewise be read and recorded. If more than one political subdivision or special district is holding an election on the same day at the same polling place and using separate ballots, the counting judges may separate the ballots of each political subdivision and special district and first read one set, then the next and so on until all proper votes have been counted.
3. After the recording of all proper votes, the recording judges shall compare their tallies. When the recording judges agree on the count, they shall sign both of the tally sheets, and one of the recording judges shall announce in a loud voice the total number of votes for each candidate and for and against each question.
4. After the announcement of the vote, the election judges shall record the vote totals in the appropriate places on each statement of returns. If any tally sheet or statement of returns contains no heading for any question, the election judges shall write the necessary headings on the tally sheet or statement of returns.
RSMo §115.105. Challengers, how selected, qualifications — challenges, when made — challengers may collect certain information at presidential primary elections — challenges, how made. — 1. The chair of the county committee of each political party named on the ballot shall have the right to designate a challenger for each polling place, who may be present until all ballots are cast on the day of election, and a challenger for each location at which absentee ballots are counted, who may be present while the ballots are being prepared for counting and counted. No later than four business days before the election, the chair of each county committee of each political party named on the ballot shall provide signed official designation forms with the names of the designated challengers and substitutes to the local election authority for confirmation of eligibility to serve as a challenger. The local election authority, after verifying the eligibility of each designated and substitute challenger, shall sign off on the official designation forms, unless the challenger is found not to have the qualifications established by subsection 5 of this section. If the election authority determines that a challenger does not meet the qualifications of subsection 5 of this section, the designating party chair may designate a replacement challenger and provide the local election authority with the name of the replacement challenger before 5:00 p.m. of the Monday preceding the election. The designating chair may substitute challengers at his or her discretion during such hours.
2. Challenges may only be made when the challenger believes the election laws of this state have been or will be violated, and each challenger shall report any such belief to the election judges, or to the election authority if not satisfied with the decision of the election judges.
3. Prior to the close of the polls, challengers may list and give out the names of those who have voted. The listing and giving out of names of those who have voted by a challenger shall not be considered giving information tending to show the state of the count.
4. In a presidential primary election, challengers may collect information about the party ballot selected by the voter and may disclose party affiliation information after the polls close.
5. All persons selected as challengers shall have the same qualifications required by section 115.085 for election judges, except that such challenger shall be a registered voter in the jurisdiction of the election authority for which the challenger is designated as a challenger.
6. Any challenge by a challenger to a voter’s identification for validity shall be made only to the election judges or other election authority. If the poll challenger is not satisfied with the decision of the election judges, then he or she may report his or her belief that the election laws of this state have been or will be violated to the election authority as allowed under this section.
RSMo §115.107. Watchers, how selected, qualifications, duties. — 1. At every election, the chairman of the county committee of each political party named on the ballot shall have the right to designate a watcher for each place votes are counted.
2. Watchers are to observe the counting of the votes and present any complaint of irregularity or law violation to the election judges, or to the election authority if not satisfied with the decision of the election judges. No watcher may be substituted for another on election day.
3. No watcher shall report to anyone the name of any person who has or has not voted.
4. A watcher may remain present until all closing certification forms are completed, all equipment is closed and taken down, the transportation case for the ballots is sealed, election materials are returned to the election authority or to the designated collection place for a polling place, and any other duties or procedures required under sections 115.447 to 115.491 are completed. A watcher may also remain present at each location at which absentee ballots are counted and may remain present while such ballots are being prepared for counting and counted.
5. All persons selected as watchers shall have the same qualifications required by section 115.085 for election judges, except that such watcher shall be a registered voter in the jurisdiction of the election authority for which the watcher is designated as a watcher.
Today from Josh Hawley (r):
Josh Hawley @HawleyMO
If last 24 hrs have made anything clear, it’s that we need new election integrity laws NOW. Ban ballot harvesting, guarantee poll watcher access, make ballot counting transparent. I will introduce
2:28 PM · Nov 5, 2020
You’d think someone who climbed the political ladder from Missouri Attorney General would know this.
What an asshole.
Previously:
Senator Claire McCaskill (D) – town hall in Warrensburg – Press Q and A – August 17, 2017 (August 17, 2017)