Boone County Clerk eyeing Mizzou Arena or Hearnes Center as polling place

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Clerk wants to use a Mizzou Athletics facility as polling place for the November election.

County clerk Brianna Lennon said either Mizzou Arena or the Hearnes Center will serve as a "central" polling location for the county. Any registered county voter could use the site to cast a ballot.

The county used Memorial Union on campus as a second central site for the March primary along with the Boone County Government Center. Lennon said the spot worked well, but wanted a more spacious venue because of new social distancing measures taken across campus. Both Mizzou Arena and the Hearnes Center have that space, Lennon said, as well as available parking.

"Often times, there's large spaces that we can use, but if we can't get cars to them or we can't find accessible pathways to get to the actual polling location, then it's not as useful," Lennon said. "So both of those locations offer a good solution to needing a large place that can serve a lot of voters, allow social distancing and be readily available to a large number of voters."

More than 2,078 people went to Memorial Union to vote, far more than the 468 ballots cast at the county government center.

Lennon said her staff and university officials would walk through both venues soon to decide which one to use. MU Athletics spokesman Nick Joos said he thought a polling place at Mizzou Arena would be great to have.

Sports teams are considering turning their stadiums into polling sites on Election Day. St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III reportedly asked the city about making Busch Stadium a polling place. The Kansas City Chiefs are also open to making Arrowhead Stadium a polling spot.

Lennon said the clerk's office is still assembling the full roster of polling places for the Nov. 3 election. She hoped to have all locations set in the next couple of weeks.