GREENE COUNTY, Mo. — No excuse absentee voting in Missouri starts today with just two weeks until the November election. For the past couple weeks, voters needed a reason to vote absentee, but now anyone can get into the voting booth.
Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller says this is the first presidential election where no excuse absentee voting has been offered.
“We’ve had a number of people reaching out to me and to our office about it,” Schoeller said. “So I anticipate we will see an increase during this next two-week period of absentee voting.”
Schoeller says voter turnout is typically higher during a presidential election, but state issues on the ballot typically bring out voters as well.
“Issues do draw voters,” Schoeller said. “And of course, there’s a number of issues on the ballot that affect our state constitution or state statutes, there’s one issue for that. There’s an issue for voters in the city of Springfield.”
Scholler explains absentee voters can help make things smoother on election day by cutting down on the number of people waiting in line. No matter when you are voting, he recommends being familiar with the ballot.