Howard County Clerk Shelley Howell has issued alerts to all voters regarding new rules that go into effect on August 28. Missouri Governor Mike Parson in June signed House Bill 1878, referred to by lawmakers as the “election integrity bill,” which they say is designed to expand voter access and further safeguard Missouri elections.

These changes to the voting law will affect voting for the November general election. Among other things, the law:

• Requires a photo ID when voting in person and allows two weeks for no-excuse in-person absentee voting. These include unexpired Missouri driver’s licenses, non-driver’s licenses, military photo IDs, or any photo ID issued by Missouri the United States federal government, such as a passport. Student IDs and out-of-state driver’s licenses will not be recognized.

Voters may obtain free non-driver’s licenses for voting from the Missouri Department of Revenue. The Secretary of State’s office can assist in obtaining required documents for at no charge. Go to showit2vote.com for more information.

• Allows the secretary of state to audit voter rolls.

• Mandates cybersecurity testing for the local election authorities and the secretary of state every two years.

• Prohibits private funding to election authorities.

• Includes “air-gap” as a definition – meaning equipment is physically and technically isolated from any internet-enabled network, including tabulating equipment, electronic voting machines, and electronic voting systems.

• Mandates paper ballots.

Any voter may cast a ballot in the county clerk’s office between September 27 and November 8.