Area election officials: Senate race, ballot issues may spark higher voter turnout

Area election officials expect higher voter turnout for this midterm election than the one four years ago, spurred in part by a hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

A crowded ballot, including seven constitutional amendments and propositions, will greet voters who go to the polls Tuesday.

But Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz said the Senate race pitting Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill against Republican Josh Hawley, Missouri�s attorney general, has sparked voter interest.

�The U.S. Senate race is why this thing is so crazy,� he said of expected voter turnout.

Kutz predicted 62 percent to 65 percent of the county�s registered voters may cast ballots in the election, far more than the approximately 43 percent who cast ballots in November 2014.

There was not a U.S. Senate race on the general election ballot that year, he said.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers predicted some 65 percent of the county�s registered voters may cast ballots Tuesday, nearly double the 33 percent turnout figure in the November 2014 election.

Summers said many residents are voting absentee. Her office has distributed about 1,600 absentee ballots for this election. Some 600 ballots already have been cast, she said.

Some people are mailing in their absentee ballots. But many are coming into the clerk�s offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson to cast their votes ahead of Election Day.

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson offices each have seen about 60 people a day come into vote, Summers said.

In addition to the regular weekday hours, the two offices will be open from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday for those wishing to cast ballots, she said. Absentee ballots can be cast Monday until 5 p.m.

Summers said the Senate race is just one factor driving voter turnout.

The constitutional amendments and propositions on the ballot also are a factor, she said. Those ballot issues include three that would legalize medical marijuana, another that would raise the state�s minimum wage and one that would increase the state fuel tax.

�I think it is a combination of all of it together,� Summers said.

Like other election officials, Scott County Clerk Rita Milam has forecast higher turnout this time, although she didn�t give a percentage.

About 500 absentee ballots already have been cast, reflecting voter interest in the election, she said.

In 2014, voter turnout in Scott County was about 30 percent.

Bollinger County Clerk Brittany Hovis estimated voter turnout there could total 35 percent to 40 percent, slightly more than the 2014 election.

Hovis said the statewide ballot issues are driving some of the voter interest.

Still, she said it is disappointing a sizable number of registered voters won�t cast ballots.

�I hate that. I wish more people would get out and vote,� Hovis said.

Some of the election officials doubted President Donald Trump�s scheduled rally Monday in Cape Girardeau will greatly increase voter turnout the next day.

Scott County�s Milam said, �I think people have already made their mind up.�

Bollinger County�s Hovis said she doesn�t believe the president�s visit will make a major difference in voter turnout there.

Kutz, the Perry County clerk, said Trump�s visit could �motivate just a few more people� to go to the polls on Election Day. But in a close race such as a U.S. Senate race, those additional votes could make a difference, he said.

Summers, the Cape Girardeau County clerk, said Trump�s election-eve visit could boost voter turnout. She said it could help get people to the polls by simply reminding them Tuesday is Election Day.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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