Missouri Laws 115.053 – Election authority deputies — bipartisan requirement — duties, compensation
1. Each election authority may appoint such even number of additional deputies as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of subsection 3 of this section. One-half of the deputies shall be members of one major political party, and one-half of the deputies shall be members of the other major political party.
2. Each deputy appointed under the provisions of this section shall be a registered voter of the jurisdiction for which he is appointed. No such deputy shall be a candidate for any office in an election at which he serves or a relative within the third degree, by consanguinity or affinity, to any person whose name appears on the ballot in an election at which he serves.
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 115.053
- Ballot: the paper ballot, or ballot designed for use with an electronic voting system on which each voter may cast all votes to which he or she is entitled at an election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Major political party: the political party whose candidates received the highest or second highest number of votes at the last general election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Political party: any established political party and any new party. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Polling place: the voting place designated for all voters residing in one or more precincts for any election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- voter: is used in the laws of this state it shall mean registered voter, or legal voter. See Missouri Laws 1.035
3. At the direction of the election authority, such deputies may investigate the facts and conditions relating to the residence and voting rights of any person. Upon direction by the election authority, such deputies may attend and be present at any polling place, witness and report to the election authority any failure of duty, fraud or irregularity, instruct election judges, supervise voting procedures and perform any other lawful function prescribed by the election authority.
4. The deputies shall be paid an amount determined by the election authority, subject to approval of the legislative body or bodies responsible for providing the salaries of other election authority employees and payable from the same source as the salary of the election authority.
5. Deputies shall serve for such time as the election authority determines and may be dismissed summarily by the election authority. At no time, however, shall more deputies from one major political party serve than deputies from the other major political party.