If the August primary election is any indication, Missouri is on track to see a record number of absentee ballot requests this year, according to figures from the Secretary of State’s Office.
For the 2020 primary, 217,426 people requested absentee or mail-in ballots, the office said. In comparison, 70,345 people requested absentee ballots for the 2016 August primaries, the last presidential election. In 2018, 83,314 people requested absentee ballots for the August primary election.
The Secretary of State’s Office only collects information from local election authorities when submitted after statewide elections, such as the primary and general, a spokesperson said. However, it might “provide a snapshot of the current number of absentee requests” ahead of the November election this year.
Missouri expanded voting options as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shake up normal proceedings. Legislation, signed by the governor in June, allows individuals who have contracted the virus or are considered to be at-risk to vote absentee without notarization. Voters can also request a mail-in ballot from local election authorities this year; this will need to be notarized before it’s returned, however.
Oct. 21 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail, but absentee ballots may be requested in person up until Nov. 2, the day before the election. Ballots must be returned in person or by mail and should be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
