The Missouri General Assembly adjourned its 2026 legislative session on May 15 after passing four election-related bills and a constitutional amendment. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed all four bills in July.
Among those bills was HB 1871, an omnibus bill that makes several changes to Missouri election law. Those changes include:
- Designating Aug. 12 as Election Worker Appreciation Day in Missouri.
- Allowing registered lobbyists to maintain a campaign committee for a local or school board office, provided they are not registered to lobby the office they are seeking.
- Restoring voting rights to people convicted of all but 11 felonies upon completion of their prison sentence, rather than upon completion of prison sentence, probation, and parole.
- Establishing that lists of absentee ballot applications for people with permanent disabilities must be kept confidential.
- Requiring that a write-in candidate must be registered in order to have their votes counted, even if there are no other candidates filed.
- Allowing election officials to expand the area around a polling place in which electioneering is banned, from 25 feet to 50 feet, after posting notice publicly.
- Requiring donors to give affirmative consent before a candidate can collect recurring campaign donations.
- Establishing childcare and personal security expenses as acceptable uses of campaign funds.
