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Missouri Senate Bill 1094 alters local candidate filing windows, election notice rules, and absentee voting procedures
Original title: Modifies provisions relating to elections
Last action · May 15, 2026: Informal Calendar S Bills for PerfectionSponsor: Sandy Crawford
Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law
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What This Bill Would Do
This bill modifies various state election laws by shifting local candidate filing windows earlier, revising newspaper and mailing requirements for election notices, adjusting equipment testing timelines, and changing absentee and provisional voting rules. The changes affect local election authorities, candidates, and voters across the state.
Why it matters
Local election authorities face new administrative timelines for testing voting machines and publishing election notices, while candidates must adjust to a candidate filing window that opens and closes one week earlier than under prior law.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Directly affected
Local election authorities
Local election authorities must follow new timelines for equipment testing, publish or mail notices under revised options, and handle updated absentee and provisional voting procedures.
Directly affected
Registered voters
Registered voters may receive election notices by mail or email and are subject to updated rules regarding absentee voting and provisional ballots.
Directly affected
Local candidates
Candidates in certain political subdivisions and special districts face a revised filing window that shifts one week earlier.
Directly affected
Interstate former and new residents
Interstate former residents and new residents are permitted to vote by absentee ballot at the election authority's office on election day for offices they are entitled to vote on.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can election authorities notify voters about upcoming elections under the bill?
Election authorities can publish notice twice in at least two qualified newspapers within 6 weeks prior to the election, mail legal notice to each registered voter and publish once in a county newspaper, or send notice by email.
What happens if a local candidate filing deadline falls on a holiday?
If the 13th Tuesday prior to an election falls on a holiday, the closing of candidate filing is extended to 5:00 p.m. on the next day that is not a holiday.
Can I still vote absentee if I forget my photo ID at the election office?
Yes, you can cast a , provided you return to the 's office by 7:00 p.m. on election day and present a form of personal identification.
Are write-in votes counted if no official candidate filed for an office?
No. The bill repeals the exemption that previously allowed unfiled write-in candidates to receive counted votes when no candidate filed, requiring a to be filed.
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
11 actions- May 15, 2026SenateInformal Calendar S Bills for Perfection
- Apr 1, 2026SenateSS for SCS S offered (Crawford)--(4171S.05F)
- Apr 1, 2026SenateSA 1 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Crawford)--(4171S05.13S)
- Apr 1, 2026SenateSA 2 to SS for SCS S offered (Beck)--(4171S05.14S)
- Apr 1, 2026SenateBill Placed on Informal Calendar
- Mar 25, 2026SenateReported from S Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee w/SCS
Show 5 earlier actions
- Mar 2, 2026SenateCommitteeSCS Voted Do Pass S Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee (4171S.03C)
- Feb 23, 2026SenateHearing Conducted S Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee
- Jan 15, 2026SenateFloorSecond Read and Referred S Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee
- Jan 7, 2026SenateIntroducedS First Read
- Dec 1, 2025SenatePrefiled
Version history & redline
3 versions on fileComparing 4171S.03C - Senate Committee Substitute → 4/1/2026 - SA 1 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Crawford)--(4171S05.13S)
4/1/2026 - Adopted
removed addedOfficial text
removed: EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
added: 4171S05.13S
1
SENATE removed: BILL added: AMENDMENT NO. removed: 1094
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
4171S.03C KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 108.240 and 115.127, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to elections.
Be it enacted added: ___
Offered by removed: the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
added: Of
Amend SS/SCS/Senate Bill No. 1094 , Page 4 , Section removed: A. Sections 108.240 and 115.127, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 108.240. 1. Before any general obligation bearer bond or general obligation registered bond, hereafter issued by any county, township, city, town, village or school district or special road district or fire protection district or by virtue of the provisions of chapters 243, 245, 248, and sections 242.010 to 242.690 for any purpose whatever, shall obtain validity or be negotiated: (1) If such bonds are in bearer form, such bonds shall first be presented to the state auditor, who, other provisions of law notwithstanding, shall certify by manual or facsimile endorsement of such bonds that all conditions of the laws have been complied with in its issue, if that be the case, and also that the conditions of the contract, under which they were ordered to be issued, have also been complied with and the evidence of that fact shall be filed and preserved by the auditor. The state auditor may endorse bearer bonds with the auditor's facsimile signature in lieu of manual signature after filing the auditor's manual signature, certified by the auditor under oath, with the secretary of state; and (2) If such bonds are in registered form, the proceedings relating to the issuance of such registered bonds shall first be presented to the state auditor, who shall examine the same and shall issue a certificate that such proceedings comply with all conditions of the laws, if that be the case, and also that the conditions of the contract, under which they were ordered to be issued, have also been complied with, and the evidence of these facts shall be filed and preserved by the auditor. The state auditor shall also maintain the following information: the name of the issuer of the bonds; the amount thereof; the maturity dates thereof; the interest rates thereon; and the provisions with respect to prepayment, if any. 2. Such bearer bonds after receiving the said certificate of the auditor as herein provided and such registered bonds after the issuance of the said certificate as herein provided shall thereafter be held in every action, suit or proceeding in which their validity is, or may be, brought into question, prima facie, valid and binding obligations, and in every action brought to enforce collection of such bonds, the certificate of such auditor, or a duly certified copy thereof, shall be admitted and received in evidence of the validity of such bonds, together with the coupons thereto attached if any; provided, the only defense which can be offered against the validity of such bonds shall be for forgery or fraud. But this section shall not be construed to give validity to any such bonds as may be issued in excess of the limit fixed added: 115.127 , Lines 3-4 ,
by removed: the constitution, or contrary to its provisions, but all such bonds shall, to the extent of such excess, be held void; and provided further, that the remedy of injunction shall also lie at the instance of any taxpayer of the respective county, city, town, village, township or school district or special road district or fire protection district or drainage district or levy district to prevent the registration of any bonds, alleged to be illegally issued or funded. 3. For purposes of subsection 1 of this section, once the time period set forth in section 115.557 has expired, if no election contest has been brought, all conditions of chapter 115 shall be deemed as having been complied with in the issuance of the bond. 115.127. 1. Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, upon receipt of notice of a special election to fill a vacancy submitted added: striking "submitted pursuant to subsection 2 of removed: section 115.125, the election authority shall cause legal notice of the special election to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in its jurisdiction. The notice shall include the name of the officer or agency calling the election, the date and time of the election, the name of the office to be filled and the date by which candidates must be selected or filed for the office. Within one week prior to each special election to fill a vacancy held in its jurisdiction, the election authority shall cause legal notice of the election to be published in two newspapers of different political faith and general circulation in the jurisdiction. The legal notice shall include the date and time of the election, the name of the officer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot. If there is only one newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction, the notice shall be published in the newspaper within one week prior to the election. If there are two or more newspapers of general circulation in the jurisdiction, but no two of opposite political faith, the notice shall be published in any two of the newspapers within one week prior to the election. 2. Except as provided in subsections 1 and 4 of this section and in sections 115.521, 115.549 and 115.593, the election authority shall cause legal notice of each election held in its jurisdiction to be published. The notice shall be published in two newspapers of different political faith and qualified pursuant to chapter 493 which are published within the bounds of the area holding the election. If there is only one so-qualified newspaper, then notice shall be published in only one newspaper. If there is no newspaper published within the bounds of the election area, then the notice shall be published in two qualified newspapers of different political faith serving the area. Notice shall be published twice[, the first publication occurring in the second week prior to the election, and the second publication occurring] within [one week] six weeks prior to the election. Each such legal notice shall include the date and time of the election, the name of the officer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot; and, unless notice has been given as provided by section 115.129, the second publication of notice of the election shall include the location of polling places. The election authority may provide any additional notice of the election it deems desirable. 3. The election authority shall print the official ballot as the same appears on the sample ballot, and no candidate's name or ballot issue which appears on the sample ballot or official printed ballot shall be stricken or removed from the ballot except on death of a candidate or by court order, but in no event shall a candidate or issue be stricken or removed from the ballot less than eight weeks before the date of the election. 4. In lieu of causing legal notice to be published twice in accordance with any of the provisions of this chapter, the election authority [in jurisdictions which have less than seven hundred fifty registered voters and in which no newspaper qualified pursuant to chapter 493 is published,] may cause legal notice to be mailed [during the second week prior to the election, by first class mail,] within six weeks prior to the election to each registered voter at the voter's voting address and published once in one or more newspapers in the county. An election authority may exclude from this mailing any voter that is designated as an inactive voter pursuant to section 115.193. All such legal notices shall include the date and time of the election, the location of the polling place, the name of the officer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot. 5. If the opening date for filing a declaration of candidacy for any office in a political subdivision or special district is not required by law or charter, the opening filing date shall be 8:00 a.m., the seventeenth Tuesday prior to the election. If the closing date for filing a declaration of candidacy for any office in a political subdivision or special district is not required by law or charter, the closing filing date shall be 5:00 p.m., the fourteenth Tuesday prior to the election. The political subdivision or special district calling an election shall, before the seventeenth Tuesday, prior to any election at which offices are to be filled, notify the general public of the opening filing date, the office or offices to be filled, the proper place for filing and the closing filing date of the election. Such notification may be accomplished by legal notice published in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the political subdivision or special district. 6. Except as provided for in sections 115.247 and 115.359, if there is no additional cost for the printing or reprinting of ballots or if the candidate agrees to pay any printing or reprinting costs, a candidate who has filed for an office or who has been duly nominated for an office may, at any time after the certification of the notice of election required in subsection 1 of section 115.125 but no later than 5:00 p.m. on the eighth Tuesday before the election, withdraw as a candidate pursuant to a court order, which, except for good cause shown by the election authority in opposition thereto, shall be freely given upon application by the candidate to the circuit court of the area of such candidate's residence.added: section2
115.125".3
Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →
Lobbying Activity
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Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
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Sources
Open source document
www.senate.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance45How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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