Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced Thursday the new voter ID law is in effect and an informational tour starts next week.

The new photo voter ID law is a state constitutional amendment approved by Missouri voters last November.

Ashcroft said the most important thing people should know is that registered voters in the state of Missouri, under the law, will be allowed to vote and their vote will count. Ashcroft said what this law means is when you go in to vote, you will be asked to show a government issued photo ID such as a state driver’s license, non-driver’s license, military ID or passport. 

“We want people to do that to make it harder for people to cheat,” Ashcroft said. “But if you don’t have that sort of ID, you can still use any of the IDs that you were allowed to use last year, the year before that or five years before that to go ahead and vote. So I want to tell people, that we’re moving in the direction of requiring a photo ID to vote but your vote will count, even if you don’t have it quite yet.” 

Ashcroft said to contact the Secretary of State’s office for more information or to get a government issued photo ID. 

Ashcroft will be traveling around the state on an informational tour regarding photo voter ID. The tour begins Monday and includes a stop in St. Joseph at 5:30 p.m. at the Downtown Public Library. For more information, click here.