As our great country prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, it is fitting that we reflect upon, and honor the sacrifices made by those who came before us. It is equally fitting that we recommit ourselves to preserving the ideals of freedom and liberty, upon which the Founding Fathers built the United States of America. Integral to that is ensuring our elections remain free and fair and protected from foreign influence—and that means ensuring only U.S. citizens enjoy the privilege of voting.
As Missouri Secretary of State and chief election authority, I remain fully committed to my promise to safeguard the integrity of our elections. When Missourians elected me in 2024, they also overwhelming approved Amendment 7, which changed Missouri’s constitution to read only citizens can vote in Missouri elections.
With that vote, Missourians effectively doubled-down on their demand that ineligible voters be ferreted out and removed from Missouri voter rolls—and so have I. In the short time I have been in office, I have removed more than 200,000 ineligible voters from Missouri voter rolls. That includes approximately 60,000 deceased people and about 5,000 felons.
Historically, the Secretary of State has had subpoena power that can be used to conduct investigations into voter and election fraud. Not surprisingly, there are some in the legislature who don’t want me removing non-citizens, deceased people, and felons from our voter rolls. Because of that, my subpoena authority was allowed to lapse in 2025. I had hoped to have it reinstated this year but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But that hasn’t stopped me from doing my job.
Absent subpoena power, my Office has had to enlist the assistance of state, federal, and local agencies for the purposes of cross-referencing voter data. This practice is in accordance with the Missouri constitution and federal law.
Certainly, I would prefer to investigate voter and election fraud on my own, as I did last year. In the one instance I exercised my subpoena authority, I investigated a formal election complaint involving St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. The complaint alleged misuse of public resources in connection with an April 2025 ballot measure campaign. My investigation resulted in a felony grand jury indictment charging Page with two counts of election law violations and two counts of stealing by deceit. His trial date is set for January 2027.
Missourians can rest assured that the absence of subpoena power has not deterred my efforts to investigate voter and election fraud. It just means the Secretary of State’s Office is a little more reliant upon working with state and federal law enforcement agencies.
In one recent case a tip led investigators to discover a voter in the City of St. Louis was registered three times at the same residential address. Other recent election complaints have dealt with possible electioneering violations, incorrect ballots being distributed to some voters, and election law violations by local elected officials.
There is no doubt that fighting voter and election fraud sometimes feels like climbing a mountain. Thankfully, there is more than one way up that mountain—and the view from the top is always worth the climb.
Denny Hoskins serves as Missouri's Secretary of State.
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