Cole County voter turnout hits 11% on Election Day
COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Cole County expected a low number of voters to cast their ballots in the municipal election, but higher than in some previous April elections.
About 11% of Cole County voters cast their ballots by 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Cole County Director of Elections Matt Musselman.
"Normally, we're around a 10% turnout for an April election," Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer said. "But since the countywide issue with the taxes on there and several races with school board and stuff like that, we kind of pushed it up to 14%."
Musselman told ABC 17 News on Monday that there had been 511 total absentee ballots cast so far, with 269 voting in person and 242 occurring by mail. There are 54,498 registered voters in the county.
After making rounds to multiple cities' polling locations Tuesday morning, Korsmeyer said he was hopeful the county would meet or slightly exceed 14% votership.
Election Day also started smoothly. Only one technical issue was reported across the county.
"I think we had one polling location that the date came up wrong on the machine, so we had to do an override on it. But other than that, it's been really, really nice," Korsmeyer said.
He expected another wave of people to vote in the evening, after work hours. He said a chillier start to the morning could also factor in to more voters choosing to head to the polls later in the day.
Cole County voter Carol Roberson said she always votes because it's important to.
"That's [voting] the only reason that we have any control over our government," Roberson said. "And if you complain about the government and don't go vote, then that's your fault."
Seven candidates are battling it out for three spots on the Jefferson City School Board. Roberson said that was something on the ballot she was proud to vote for in this election.
"We need a strong school system here [in Jefferson City]. And the school board is very important," Roberson said.
Besides some specific city council and school board races, every voter in Cole County had a chance to help decide whether to extend the county's half-cent sales tax for capital improvements.
The tax money goes to fund work on roads and bridges, including construction, repairs and updates. The county sales tax rate, including the half-cent that was approved in 2021, is 5.6%.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. A list of polling locations and a sample ballot can be found on the county's website.
Stay tuned to ABC 17 News Tuesday night for live election coverage and results.
