Date: February 5th, 2024To: Chairman Gannon and Members of the Senate Local Government and Elections CommitteeFrom: Gwen Smith, Criminal Justice Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRE: Support for SB 1199 and Restoring Voting Rights Empower Missouri has been committed for over 120 years to improving the quality of life for all Missouri residents through advocacy and policy...Read More

Date: January 29th, 2024To: Chairwoman Gannon and Members, Local Government and Elections CommitteeFrom: Trina Ragain, Lead Policy Strategist, Empower MissouriRE: Opposition for Altering the Initiative Petition Process and Requirements through SJR 48, SJR 49, SJR 51, SJR 56, SJR 59, SJR 61, SJR 73, SJR 74, SJR 77, and SJR 79 As the largest and...Read More

We knew going into the legislative session that it would be a wild year. Unfortunately, wild years where very little gets done has become the normal legislative process in Missouri. It wasn’t designed to be this way. However, partisan infighting, electoral maps designed to favor one party, distrust in government and an overall breakdown in...Read More

For the last few years, I’ve practiced asking my friends and family if they were planning to vote and what that plan was. I was used to asking how they planned to vote on issues, though rarely about candidates. Before that I’d never really asked, “What time do you think you’ll head to the polls?”...Read More

As our Missouri General Assembly convenes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are outraged to see some lawmakers pushing to pass voter suppression measures. Many of our ancestors suffered and died to secure the right to vote, so we must take action immediately. Voter suppression language was amended to the House Committee Substitute...Read More

The September Empowering You Newsletter can be downloaded by clicking on the thumbnail below, and you can explore it’s contents by clicking on any of the links under the thumbnail. Putting an SRO in every Missouri school won’t make them safer – but here’s what might – Conner Kerrigan “Missouri has failed it’s voters” – Voter...Read More

By Jeanette Mott Oxford and Denise Lieberman In a week-long trial that concluded August 23, voter advocates presented testimony before Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem in a case that could determine the fate of Missouri’s voter photo ID law. At stake is Missourians’ fundamental right to vote. The case, NAACP et al. v. Missouri,...Read More