Boone County offers additional option for voters exposed to COVID-19
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County Clerk's Office is providing voters additional options to vote as those who are in quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 have one more day to cast their ballots for the 2020 election.
The Boone County Clerks office held a drive-thru event at Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services on Saturday and Sunday to give those exposed to COVID-19 an opportunity to vote.
Brianna Lennon, the Boone County Clerk said around 380 Boone County residents took advantage of that event this weekend.
This allowed the Clerk's Office to give quarantined voters the opportunity to vote safely without risking the safety of others.
Lennon said for those who couldn't make it, there’s still another way to vote.
The county has teams of bi-partisan election judges who will go to voters' homes if they are sent to isolation before 5 p.m. on Monday.
“It's kind of a limited thing due to... resources as we're getting closer to the election, said Lennon. “We can send a team of election judges out, a Republican and a Democrat to go to people's houses and have them vote and absentee ballot right then.”
Lennon said this is not a new service as it’s stated under the law, but this year it’s become more popular due to the virus, as around 100 voters have already requested this contactless method of voting so far this year.
Lennon said the election judges do not enter the voters' homes. The judges first knock on the voter's front door and let them know the ballot is there.
“We lay that on their door,” said Lennon said. “They keep their door close, and then we step very far away. They can take the ballot and the ballot envelope into the house, vote their ballot, and then put it into a box outside of their door.”
Absentee voting does end on Monday and the Boone County Clerk’s Office is still providing a curbside option located at the Boone County Government Center until 5 p.m. Monday night.
If you still need to vote but are in need of accommodations, the Boone County Clerk’s Office said to get in contact with them immediately.
