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Absentee voting is underway in Missouri, for those with an excused absence. The Secretary of State’s office would like that to change and allow Missouri voters to cast ballots early without having to provide an excuse.
You don’t have to wait until November 2nd to vote in the General Election, but you do have to have a reason to cast an absentee ballot. [Read more...]
A new, fasterway is being used to get absentee ballots to Missourians anywhere in the world outside of the United States, the first time voters overseas will be able to get their absentee ballot e-mailed to them from their county election authority. The first ones started going out Friday because the Pentagon says military absentee ballots must be available 45 days before the election. For those of us who are stateside, absentee ballots will become available tomorrow.
Secretary of State spokesman Laura Egerdal says the new system could shave as much as 18 days off the overseas absentee balloting. She says the Federal Voting Assistance Program estimates about 26,000 Missourians are int he militayr and another 86,000 Missourians are overseas in other roles.
In most cases, the voter will have to send the ballot back by regular mail. But soldiers who are in combat zones can e-mail their ballots back.
Two years ago, more than 16-thousand-500 ballots were mailed to overseas voters. About 72% of them were returned, a better “turnoutj” percentage than the total state voter particpation of 69%.
A political newcomer challenges an incumbent in the race for State Auditor.
Republican Tom Schweich, a lawyer, has served in government for years, serving in various roles in the federal government. Former Missouri United States John Danforth selected Schweich as his Chief of Staff in the federal investigation of the Waco incident. Schweich followed Danforth of the United Nations when he served as ambassador. There, he worked for Danforth, Anne Patterson and John Bolton. Schweich also worked at the State Department.
As for his race for Auditor…
“I expect a race that’s on the issues about what we need in terms of the state auditor in light of the current economic conditions in the state, in light of the status of the federal stimulus funds,” Schweich tells the Missourinet. “It should be a race on the issues.”
Schweich takes on incumbent Democrat Susan Montee, a CPA and attorney, who has occupied the office for nearly four years. She welcomes a race on the issues, when she thinks of it as a race.
“Well, you know, I haven’t really thought about it in terms of a ‘race’. I’m hoping that it runs the same way I ran my last race in that we talk about the issues and what happens in the Auditor’s office,” Montee tells the Missourinet.
Montee says the public focuses on high-profile audits. She doesn’t necessarily focus on those, but on the overall work of the office. Montee says her office cleared up a back-log of audits of municipal courts throughout the state, some of which hadn’t been audited in more than 10 years. She says those audits revealed some outright fraud.
A bill which would allow Missourians to vote early, but require photo identification to vote, has passed the House and moved on to the Senate, but only after Democrats harshly criticize the measure.
Democrats like the idea of a four-day period in which Missourians can cast a no-excuse absentee ballot, but oppose voter photo ID. Democrat John Burnett of Kansas City accuses Republicans of trying to suppress the vote of those without photo identification. [Read more...]
Members of the Missouri House want to take another run at requiring Missouri voters to display photo identification to vote.
The voters would decide the issue. HJR 64 is proposed amendment to the state constitution. If it passes the legislature, it goes to a vote of the people. [Read more...]
