Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MOVPC) is a Missouri-based network of advocacy organizations that support eliminating election integrity policies. It also files lawsuits against the state to remove existing election integrity policies. ¹

MOVPC campaigns include opposing requiring photo identification for voters, supporting allowing non-citizens and non-Missouri residents to be petition circulators, and supporting allowing third parties to register voters and submit ballots on behalf of voters. ²

Background

Founded in 2006, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition is a network of over 60 advocacy organizations in Missouri that opposes conservative-backed election integrity laws. It states its advocacy is geared towards removing restrictions to increase voter participation among low-income individuals, ethnic minorities, young people, and disabled persons. ³

MOVPC also files lawsuits against the state of Missouri to remove election integrity policies and has a “Legislative Tracker” for legislation and ballot initiatives pertaining to election integrity. ⁴

2023 Legislative Tracker

Missouri Voter Protection Coalition lists Missouri’s HB 703 on its legislative tracker as a bill it opposes. The bill would require petition circulators to be residents of Missouri for 30 days and U.S. citizens. ⁵

MOVPC’s legislative tracker lists HB 780 as a bill it opposes. The bill would require individuals “circulating” political initiatives and referendum petitions to also be registered voters. ⁶

Activities

In May 2018, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition submitted a letter to Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) and Director Joe Walters requesting them to eliminate specific election integrity policies. In the letter, MOVPC advocated policies that would require Missouri’s state and local agencies to automatically change a person’s voter registration and address information across all agencies’ records when a person changes their address with one agency. ⁷

In April 2020, MOVPC filed a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)  against the state of Missouri that argued all eligible voters should be eligible for mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit claimed that voters would be “disenfranchised” if they would not be allowed to confine themselves to their houses at a “large-scale.” ⁸

In May 2022, MOVPC published a press release stating opposition to the pasage of HB 1878 which would place restrictions on voter registration drives, allow the Secretary of State to audit elections, and implement voter photo ID provisions. MOVPC states it worked to lobby against the bill and condemned its passage, claiming that the election integrity provisions are unconstitutional. ⁹

People

Denise Lieberman is the director and general counsel of Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. Lieberman is a law and political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has litigated against various election integrity laws at the state level and testified in Congress to support the Voting Rights Act. She previously served as national director of Power and Democracy for Advancement Project and as a consultant with the Brennan Center. ¹⁰

1. “Areas of Work.” MOVPC. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/areas-of-work.
2. “Policy Advocacy.” MOVPC. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/policy-advocacy.
3. “Mission & Vision.” MOVPC. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/movpc-mission-and-vision.
4. Areas of Work.” MOVPC. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/areas-of-work.
5. Lieberman, Denise. “MOVPC’s Legislative Tracker Can Help You Take Action!” MOVPC. MOVPC, January 30, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/post/movpc-s-legislative-tracker-can-help-you-take-action.
6. Lieberman, Denise. “MOVPC’s Legislative Tracker Can Help You Take Action!” MOVPC. MOVPC, January 30, 2023. https://www.movpc.org/post/movpc-s-legislative-tracker-can-help-you-take-action.
7. MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION. Letter to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Director Joel Walters, May 31, 2018. https://advancementproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/MO_NVRA_advocacy-letter_FINAL.pdf
8. “ACLU and Missouri Voter Protection Coalition File Lawsuit to Ensure All Missouri Voters Can Vote Absentee by Mail during COVID-19 Pandemic.” American Civil Liberties Union, April 16, 2020. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-and-missouri-voter-protection-coalition-file-lawsuit-ensure-all-missouri-voters?redirect=press-releases%2Faclu-files-lawsuit-ensure-all-missouri-voters-can-vote-absentee-mail-during-covid-19&fbclid=IwAR12CAhecJuJIA4AjtOnlXjqVRN3r7TgKm9eBMi8k5ntjRvHGwM6d6SijS8.
9. “Missouri Voter Advocates Condemn Passage of Voting Bill.” Missouri Voter Advocates Condemn Passage of Voting Bill | League of Women Voters, May 12, 2022. https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/news-clips/missouri-voter-advocates-condemn-passage-voting-bill
10. “Denise Lieberman.” Center for Social Development, March 17, 2022. https://csd.wustl.edu/people/denise-lieberman/.