A number of statements in a lively debate:

“This is a pretty common-sense proposal,” said House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka. “It protects the integrity of the voting process.”

“I think it is too easy for someone to pick up someone’s utility bill or even someone’s voter ID card and go to the polls and use that to cast a ballot,” said Rep. Tony Duggar, R-Hartville.

“Jim Crow is alive in this room today,” said Rep. Chris Kelly, a Democrat from Columbia who served in the Legislature in the 1980s and ’90s before returning in 2009. “This is the single most immoral act that I’ve ever seen happen in my time in the General Assembly.”

Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, said the effort is intended to protect the right to vote — not harm it. He referred to the legislation as a “firewall.”  “There are people out there who see elections as a game,” he said. “Right now there’s no requirement to prove who you are.” Cox said it wouldn’t be hard to create fake documents and use them to vote under the current system, which allows a voter to show a utility bill as a form of identification.  “I could create 10,000 utility bills that would look pretty good, if so inclined,” he said.

Rep. Rory Ellinger, D-University City, said the state shouldn’t be creating more bureaucratic hurdles for people who want to vote.  “The end result is innocent people will be hurt,” he said.