November vote certified, photo ID compliance high in Cape Girardeau County

Voting was a bit different on Nov. 8, 2022, with acceptable photo ID required for the first time in Missouri, thanks to legislative passage of state House Bill 1878 in May.

Photo ID

Summers said 28,112 ballots were cast and only 42 were considered "provisional" by voters who did not produce photo ID acceptable per the new law.

Five of those voters returned the same day to their polling places with the required, ID and their ballots were counted.

Of the remaining 37 outstanding provisionals, 35 were later verified by signature match by election officials. Only two of the 42 were ultimately rejected.

Kara Clark Summers, who has served as Cape Girardeau County's clerk and election authority since 2007, said she expected more provisional ballots on election day.

"The number (of provisionals) was not as high as I thought, but we also didn't have the turnout I thought we would among college students. I think the number would have been much higher if more university students had turned out," Summers said Friday, Nov. 18.

Turnout

• Registered voters: 54,633.
• Total ballots cast: 28,112. (51.46%)

By way of contrast, 40,576 ballots were cast in Cape County for the November 2020 general election.

Only four provisional ballots were cast on election day two years ago by those without proper identification pre-HB 1878.

Verification board

Results tallied on election night are considered unofficial until certified by a verification board made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, Summers advised.

The board met Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, to conduct its post-election duties, as spelled out in section 115.503 of Revised Statutes of Missouri.

"At verification, we do a hand count of ballots by random draw of 5% of our 35 voting precincts and also in any precincts that may have reported irregularities," Summers said.

Analysis

Cape Girardeau County's Amendment 3 vote on the recreational marijuana initiative was contrary to how Missourians voted as a whole.

Amendment 3 passed statewide by a margin of 53% to 47%, while in Cape County the referendum failed, with 56% voting "no" and 44% voting "yes."

County voters were more supportive of the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, current state attorney general Eric Schmitt, than was indicated in the final statewide tally.

Cape Girardeau County favored Schmitt over Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine by a 74% to 24% margin, while in the final state vote, Schmitt prevailed 55% to 42%.

Locally, in the three-candidate District 147 state House race, each hopeful picked up votes in the certified tally.

• Republican John Voss gained 19 votes at final certification to finish with 6,990 votes, or 64.4%. Voss will take his seat Jan. 4, 2023, in Jefferson City, giving the City of Cape Girardeau representation in the House for the first time since Wayne Wallingford's resignation left the seat vacant a year ago.
• Democrat Andy Leighton added 15 votes to finish with 3,405, while Libertarian Greg Tlapek saw his final mark increase by a single vote to 450. The write-in vote remained the same at 12.