St. Francis Xavier Advocacy Committee
The SFX Advocacy Committee believes advocacy means:
To stand with and for another person by listening and observing in order to give witness.
To amplify voices that are often silenced.
To affect systemic change through policies and structures that uphold the dignity of all members of our community.
Faithful Citizenship: Your Vote Matters
The Advocacy Committee wants to ensure that College Church parishioners and our wider community can access the ballot this November and beyond. Please read below for resources related to voting and the newly implemented law that impacts voting in Missouri, HB1878.
Voting Access Ambassadors: See a College Church “Voting Access Ambassador” for more information on how to access the ballot on Donut Sunday in October (10/9) or after Masses through November 6th.
Want to become a Voting Access Ambassador? Contact Christine at christine@sfxstl.org or (314) 977-7309.
Missouri House Bill 1878: HB1878 is a new voting law that went into effect on August 28th, 2022. This law does many things that impact the voting process, but one of the most egregious changes is that it requires a nonexpired Missouri or federal government-issued ID in order to vote in person. To the right is a graphic explaining the key aspects of HB1878. Below are highlighted stories of volunteers and guests in our Missouri State ID and Birth Certificate Program sharing the barriers they’ve seen or experienced to accessing official government identification. Visit sfxstl.org/outreach for more information about our program.
Stories of ID Access
The new requirement to produce a nonexpired photo ID in order to vote will impact many Missourians who cannot readily obtain a State ID. Below we will highlight reflections from those connected to our ID and Birth Certificate Program leading up to the November election.
Program Volunteer Carol Berger:
It can be hard enough for people who live in stable situations to pull together the myriad documents needed to obtain Missouri birth certificates and state ID’s. For those who have no permanent home, who live in shelters, on the streets, or survive by cadging a couch here and there, it is all but impossible. Some have been robbed. Others have lost their documents in fires or left them behind when they had to flee unsafe situations. Some are recently released from jail or prison. Even those who might have the documentation find the $33 or more in fees too daunting when they don’t even have enough money for a bus ticket to get to City Hall. Without a state ID (and the birth certificate required to get one) there is no way to get traction, to put a fractured life back together. Those without ID’s can’t get jobs or apartments, apply for benefits, send their children to school, cash checks, or vote. We help some of these people every Tuesday morning in Outreach. But we can’t get to everyone. A valid state ID needs to be readily accessible to all, financially and logistically. The system needs to change.