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Missouri lawmaker seeks fix to avoid candidate filing deadline on holidays
Summary
Rep. Dave Hinman told the House Elections Committee HB 1987 would adjust the local-candidate filing deadline after an earlier change left no holiday exception, causing deadlines to fall on days city and school clerks were closed.
Representative Dave Hinman told the House Committee on Elections that House Bill 1987 would make a technical change to the filing deadline for declarations of candidacy for local offices so that the statutory deadline does not fall on holidays.
Hinman, who represents O'Fallon in District 103, said the change responds to House Bill 271 (2021), which shortened the filing window for local offices but did not provide language addressing what happens when the fourteenth Tuesday falls on a holiday. “This bill just makes a small technical change to our state statute as requested by local city clerks and school board clerks,” Hinman said, citing the April 2025 filing deadline that fell on Dec. 31, 2024, and the possibility that a future deadline could fall on Christmas.
Multiple municipal and election-administration groups testified in support. Nikki Strong, speaking for the City of St. Peters, said the holiday outcome was an “unintended consequence” and urged the committee to pass the fix. Richard Sheets of the Missouri Municipal League, Colin Kincaid of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis, and Chris Ropey of the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities all voiced support, asking the committee to resolve the problem for local clerks.
A public advocate witness urged moving the deadline earlier (to the twelfth Tuesday before the April election) to allow time for court challenges and to avoid holiday closures. The committee concluded the hearing without taking a vote on the bill.
The measure as presented would change the statutory filing date for local offices to prevent the deadline from falling on holidays; the exact statutory text and any effective date were not provided during the hearing.
