More voters in southeast Missouri are making their voices heard early in this year’s midterm election, according to several counties in the region. Absentee voting numbers are up compared to 2014.
The biggest jump is in Scott County with nearly a 37 percent increase in absentee votes.
Across the region, county election officials said there are more contests on the ballot that interest people this year. In Perry County, the clerk links the high level of voter enthusiasm to the heated U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican challenger Josh Hawley.
Bollinger, New Madrid, and Cape Girardeau counties have also seen a growth in numbers. “People are requesting absentee ballots, coming in to vote absentee. It’s been very, very high turnout so far,” said Kara Clark Summers, Cape Girardeau County Clerk.
Summers said if you requested a ballot by mail and haven’t received it yet, contact the County Clerk’s Office near you.
The deadline for absentee voting in person in the office of the election authority is 5:00 p.m. on the day before the November 6th election.
(Missourinet media partner KFVS-TV contributed this report)
