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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 896
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
5016S.02C KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 115, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to election funding, with
penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 115, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
one new section, to be known as section 115.1600, to read as 2
follows:3
115.1600. 1. For purposes of this section, the 1
following terms mean: 2
(1) "Donation", a payment, gift, subscription, loan, 3
advance, deposit, or anything of value given to a person 4
without consideration; 5
(2) "Election administration", to participate in any 6
way in the process of conducting and implementing an 7
election. Election administration for the purposes of this 8
section does not include post-election canvass, recount, 9
contest, and audit processes; 10
(3) "Election officer", individuals who administer, 11
implement, or oversee election-related policies, procedures, 12
or technologies on behalf of any political subdivision or 13
the secretary of state. Election officers include, but are 14
not limited to, the secretary of state; any election 15
authority; any member of a redistricting commission; or any 16
of the aforementioned individual's agents, employees, 17
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representatives, or assigns, provided the duties of such 18
agents, employees, representatives, or assigns consist of 19
decision-making authority relating to election 20
administration; 21
(4) "Foreign donation", a donation provided by a 22
foreign national; 23
(5) "Foreign national", any of the following: 24
(a) An individual who is not a citizen of the United 25
States; 26
(b) A government, or subdivision, of a foreign country 27
or municipality thereof; 28
(c) A foreign political party; or 29
(d) Any entity, such as a partnership, association, 30
corporation, organization, or other combination of persons, 31
that is organized under the laws of or has its principal 32
place of business in a foreign country; 33
(6) "Government entity", a state, county, local, or 34
municipal government entity, or an officer, employee, or 35
volunteer of one of these entities; 36
(7) "Person", an individual, partnership, association, 37
corporation, organization, or any other combination or group 38
of individuals. 39
2. (1) A government entity shall not solicit, accept, 40
or use any funds or in-kind goods or services for election 41
administration if those funds or in-kind goods or services 42
are donated directly or indirectly by any person other than 43
a government entity. An election officer may solicit, 44
accept, or use funds or in-kind goods or services of de 45
minimis value. 46
(2) Subject to the exception in subdivision (3) of 47
this subsection, a government entity or election officer 48
shall not, in his or her official capacity, join the 49
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membership of any person, participate in any program, or 50
purchase any services from any person if such membership, 51
program, or service relates to the administration of 52
elections unless the person complies with the following 53
certification requirements: 54
(a) The certification shall state that the person: 55
a. Has not directly or indirectly financed election 56
administration; 57
b. Does not have any staff or board members who have 58
worked for, consulted with, or been employed by a person 59
described by this subdivision within the last ten years 60
unless such organization consisted of government officials; 61
and 62
c. Has been certified as being free of direct or 63
indirect foreign donations. For purposes of this 64
subparagraph the payment of any membership dues or 65
registration fees by or on behalf of any person shall not be 66
considered a foreign donation. 67
(b) The certification required by paragraph (a) of 68
this subdivision shall be: 69
a. Renewed on an annual basis; 70
b. Updated within five business days of the person 71
obtaining information unknown at the time of the initial 72
certification as described in this subdivision; and 73
c. Dated and sworn by the person under penalty of 74
perjury. 75
3. (1) If, in his or her private capacity, an 76
election officer joins or considers joining the membership 77
of a person, or participates or considers participating in 78
any program described by subsection 2 of this section, the 79
election officer shall disclose his or her participation or 80
membership, or potential participation or membership, and to 81
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have participation or potential participation or membership 82
considered in a public hearing, and disclosed on his or her 83
public website as provided by this section. 84
(2) The disclosure required by subdivision (1) of this 85
subsection shall be: 86
(a) Conspicuous, publicly accessible, and publicly 87
viewable; 88
(b) At least 14-point Times New Roman font, and in a 89
contrasting color from the background of the website; 90
(c) Enclosed inside a box, separated from other text 91
and graphics; and 92
(d) Displayed on the homepage of the election 93
officer's website, reasonably close to the top of the page. 94
(3) The disclosure required by subdivision (1) of this 95
subsection shall state: 96
(a) The full name and title of the election officer; 97
(b) The date that the election officer participated in 98
the program or joined the person or participated in the 99
program or is scheduled to begin participation in the 100
program; 101
(c) The full name of the program or person; 102
(d) An accurate description of the nature of the 103
program or person; 104
(e) A certification that the person or program has not 105
been, directly or indirectly, the recipient of foreign 106
donations, a statement that the person or program has been 107
the recipient of foreign donations, or a statement that the 108
person or program has not submitted said certification; and 109
(f) The date of any public hearing at which membership 110
or participation in the program is to be considered. 111
(4) The disclosure required by subdivision (1) of this 112
subsection shall also include a link to an electronic 113
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document containing all resources or documents received by 114
the election officer from the person or program, along with 115
the disclosure of any known funding for the program known to 116
the officer. This list of resources shall be updated within 117
ten business days of receipt as resources, documents, and 118
other materials are provided or made available. 119
(5) If the election officer does not have a public 120
website, the disclosure shall be included on the official 121
homepage of the website most closely associated with the 122
election officer, including that of his or her superior or 123
supervisor. If no website or homepage can be ascertained, 124
the disclosure shall be submitted to the secretary of state 125
for inclusion on the secretary of state's website in a 126
conspicuous manner. 127
(6) Any disclosure made pursuant to this subsection 128
shall remain posted and publicly accessible for a period 129
beginning not less than thirty days prior to joining, and 130
ending not less than one hundred eighty days after 131
membership ends. In the event that a membership has been 132
terminated, the officer may indicate on the disclosure that 133
such membership has been terminated during the one hundred 134
eighty day period in which the disclosure is required to 135
remain posted and publicly accessible. 136
(7) In creating and posting any disclosure pursuant to 137
this subsection, the election officer is certifying under 138
penalty of perjury that the information contained within the 139
disclosure is true and accurate. 140
4. Violation of this section is a class B 141
misdemeanor. If conduct that constitutes an offense under 142
this section also constitutes an offense under any other 143
law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the 144
other law, or both. 145
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5. Any registered voter in this state may bring a 146
cause of action to enforce this section. 147
6. Any existing or future ordinance enacted or adopted 148
by any political subdivision that is in conflict with this 149
section is void. 150
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