Voters flocking to register

Pettis County Clerk Pam Doane says her office has been flooded with people registering to vote ahead of next week’s deadline, and she expects packed polling stations Nov. 4.

“We have been busy updating addresses and registering new people,” Doane said.

The deadline to register to vote in the November election is 5 p.m. Wednesday.

In addition to voting for president, voters will determine the outcome of two proposed state constitutional amendments, three statutory propositions and several local and statewide seats. With significant national and statewide issues facing voters, Doane expects high turnout. She anticipates 75 to 80 percent of eligible Pettis County voters will cast a ballot on Nov. 4.

“Presidential years are always busy,” she said.

In 2004, 66 percent of Pettis County voters turned out to vote.

Smith-Cotton High School’s National Honor Society will work to register eligible students by distributing registration forms during lunch Monday and Tuesday next week. National Honors Society Adviser Steve Schilb said that there is significant interest in this year’s election among students.

“We have given out 50 cards from the clerk’s office, and we already had to go pick more up,” Schilb said.

National Honor Society students will distribute registration forms to seminar classes, in addition to hosting registration tables during lunch periods on Monday and Tuesday. Schilb expects to register 50 to 75 more students before Wednesday’s deadline.

Voters should prepare for longer lines when they head to the polls this November. The clerk’s office will supply polling stations with additional ballots for what is expected to be a very high turnout, but precincts will not be staffed with more poll workers than usual.
“We don’t need more workers because it will mainly be people standing in lines,” Doane said.

Three Pettis County polling locations have also changed this year. Voters in the Flat Creek township, who used to vote at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, will now vote at Advanced Building Supply on Anderson School Road. Prairie residents will now vote at Cornerstone Baptist Church on Highway Y instead of at the Prairie Ridge Golf Course, and the polling station in East Sedalia will now be at the Grace Baptist Church on South Ingram Avenue.

Some residents are already taking advantage of one way to avoid long lines at polling stations by voting absentee. The clerk’s office started accepting absentee ballots by mail on Sept. 23 and will continue to do so until 5 p.m. Oct. 29.

Absentee ballots may be dropped off at the clerk’s office as late as 5 p.m. on the night before the election.

Absentee voters who mail their ballots must provide a notarized signature, a copy of identification, and a reason for voting absentee. Acceptable reasons for voting absentee include absence from registered location on election day, incapacity due to illness or disability, religious beliefs and incarceration.

The clerk’s office also provides ballots to permanently disabled residents who want to vote. The clerk’s office will mail ballots to these residents through the last week in October. Absentee ballots can be ordered by calling the clerk’s office at (660) 826-5000 ext. 918.

The clerk’s office will send a team to nursing homes and to the homes of people who cannot leave their homes so that they may vote.
Residents who have yet to register can fill out a registration form at the Pettis County Clerk’s Office in the courthouse or download the form online at http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/register2vote and mail it to the clerk’s office by Wednesday.