Missouri AG Faces Lawsuits Over Slot-Machine Enforcement, Defends Voter ID Law

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is confronting two separate legal battles over her office's crackdown on slot-style gambling machines located in bars and gas stations, while also defending the state's voter identification law against a federal challenge.

The lawsuits allege that Hanaway's office used threats of prosecution and license pressure to force businesses to remove the machines without allowing them a chance to contest the action. Hanaway maintains that the devices are prohibited under state law because players have no influence over the results, categorizing them as games of chance. She argued that because a player cannot affect the outcome, the machines run afoul of Missouri statutes.

On a separate front, Hanaway has entered a federal case challenging Indiana's voter ID law, as a similar Missouri statute was recently upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court after a challenge from the NAACP. The NAACP contended that the law prevents voting by individuals with disabilities or those facing clerical obstacles in obtaining identification. Hanaway stated that she wants to ensure Missouri's voter ID law remains constitutional and serves as a national model. When asked whether the voter ID lawsuit was more about state authority or fraud prevention, she said both factors are equally important and declined to prioritize one over the other.

Hanaway addressed both the gambling machine lawsuits and the voter ID defense in an interview with Gray Media's Missouri Capitol Bureau.