ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Election Day is exactly six weeks away, but voting starts now in Missouri: in-person, absentee voting, with an excuse.
There is a big lesson to be learned from day one: getting through the ballot takes a while.
More than 300 people voted on first day of absentee voting in the state’s largest pool of voters: St. Louis County.
The St. Louis County Board of Election headquarters in St. Ann is the only location allowing in-person, absentee voting, with an excuse.
Voters were lined up outside before the doors opened at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday.
The excuse most cited by early voters was an inability to be in the county on Nov. 5.
“What makes me most nervous is the length of the ballot,” Eric Fey, Democratic Director of the St. Louis County Board of Elections, said. “The ballot is 20 inches long. It has a minimum of 40 things on it. A lot of voters have even more than that to vote on. I was putting a stopwatch on a number of people this morning, just to get an idea of what we’re looking at.”
FOX 2 timed voter Dave DeGeare, with his permission. It took 16 minutes, 28 seconds for him to fill out his ballot, put it into the box, and receive his “I Voted” sticker.
“This ballot is very long. It’s very long,” Pastor Torri Anthony of Florissant said. “I actually just made a post on Facebook telling people that you’ve got six weeks: get it done, whether it’s today or just within those six weeks, get it done, because your voice does matter.”
Along with in-person voters, more than 19,000 voters in St. Louis County have already requested “mail-in” absentee ballots, according to Rick Stream, Republican Director of the St. Louis County Board of Elections.
Election authorities urge people to mail-in ballots at least a week before Election Day to make sure they get in and get counted.
In-person, no excuse absentee voting starts Oct. 22 in Missouri, two weeks before Election Day. St. Louis County will have 14 early voting locations open at that point.
Early voting in Illinois starts in two days, on Sept. 26, with no excuse needed.
