One week left to register for next month's election

Time is running short for anyone who wants to vote on Nov. 7 to become registered.

Voter rolls for the election close Oct. 11, said Patty Schlosser, director of elections for Cape Girardeau County. New voters can register in Jackson at the Administration Building and in Cape Girardeau at the county annex on Lorimier Street.

The Nov. 7 election features a competitive U.S. Senate race that both Republicans and Democrats see as crucial to their chances for controlling that house of Congress. Voters will also make choices on high-profile ballot issues protecting stem-cell research, raising the minimum wage in Missouri and imposing an 80-cents per pack tax on cigarettes.

And most voters in Southeast Missouri will cast ballots in contested races for the Missouri House.

Anyone registering to vote needs some form of identification, Schlosser said. Acceptable identification includes a driver's license, passport, Social Security card or state-issued ID.

Anyone who is already registered but has moved must file a change of address before voting, she said. Voting laws allow the change of address to be filed on Election Day, she said, but Schlosser is encouraging voters to take care of the chore before Election Day to avoid delays.

Absentee voting has already begun, Schlosser said, and so far the county clerk's office has mailed out 170 ballots with many going to members of the military stationed overseas.

Time is running short for those overseas ballots, Schlosser said, because the ballots must be returned to the county clerk's office no later than Election Day. Close relatives can apply for the absentee ballot, she said, including parents, siblings, spouses, children, grandparents and in-laws.

"We would just need to know where to mail it," she said. "The postal service flags it in a special way if it is going overseas to the military so they get it out and back as soon as possible."

For those who will be unable to make it to the polls on Election Day but not out of the country, the county can mail an absentee ballot or the voters can cast ballots at the county clerk's office, Schlosser said.

The accepted reasons for voting absentee include illness or disability that prevents going to the polls, being out of town on Election Day or being unable to leave work during voting hours, she said.

The county is also looking for poll workers for Election Day, and Schlosser announced that voters in one precinct will have a new polling station. The county needs 20 to 25 more people than worked on primary day, she said.

The county pays $80 for election judges and $90 for supervisors and requires that anyone applying for the job declare themselves as either a Democrat or Republican.

The precinct being closed is the Old Appleton polling location at Zion Methodist Church. Voters who live in the west half of the precinct will vote in Friedheim at the Trinity Lutheran Church and voters in the eastern side will vote at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126