Nearly 5,000 ballots were cast in Pettis County’s April 6 municipal election.
According to information from the Pettis County Clerk’s Office, 17.88% of registered voters cast a ballot, or 4,691 voters. Pettis County Clerk Nick La Strada had predicted 20% to 22% of registered voters would participate in the 2021 municipal election due to a high amount of absentee voting. Absentee voting starts six weeks before every election. On Friday, he said roughly 3% of Pettis County voters had already voted, with absentee voting still available Saturday and Monday.
“It was the highest turnout in absentee history for any municipal election,” La Strada told the Democrat after all precincts had reported Tuesday night. “I was very, very impressed with the absentees and in-person.”
There were a number of highly contested races on Tuesday’s ballot, mainly for the Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education and the Pettis County Health Center Board of Trustees, which had its first contested election in about 15 years. There were also numerous ballot questions for Pettis County’s smaller cities.
Tuesday’s results are unofficial until La Strada’s office certifies the election on Friday; his office can still accept military ballots until noon Friday.
Election returns came in quickly this year, as La Strada said he and his staff had all precincts reporting at 7:47 p.m. He said it was a successful, busy day for the Clerk’s Office.
“Today was phenomenal, no issues whatsoever. People were in and out, it was a smooth day, no complaints. It was a really good election,” La Strada said.
“We were expecting 20 to 22% (voter turnout) but almost 18% is still a really good turnout for a municipal election,” he added. “I can’t thank everyone, the poll workers enough for all the hard work they put into this.”
