Mo. Sec. of State Ashcroft to visit Cape to 'reassure' voters

Missouri Secretary of State John R. “Jay” Ashcroft plans to visit Southeast Missouri this week as part of a statewide tour to reassure voters about the safety of in-person voting for the Nov. 3 general election and to provide information on the casting of absentee and mail-in ballots.

Ashcroft, 47, will meet with local officials at 11:45 a.m. Thursday in the chambers of the Cape Girardeau City Council.

The son of a former two-term Missouri governor, Ashcroft became the Show Me State’s top election official in January 2017.

He’s seeking a second four-year term in the November general election. The incumbent has four opponents, including 44-year old Democrat Yinka Faleti, a Nigerian-born St. Louis lawyer and West Point graduate who served two deployments in Kuwait during Operation Enduring Freedom.

“(Ashcroft) will be here (in Cape Girardeau) to clarify the election procedure and will reassure people about the process,” said Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox, adding Ashcroft has promised to visit all of the state’s 116 election jurisdictions.