The counting of votes of the Nov. 3 general election turned out more smoothly than expected in Jefferson County.
County Clerk Ken Waller said all the votes were counted by about 9:30 p.m.
“Considering the coronavirus, the large crowds, the early voting, new equipment and new poll workers, to have it wrapped up by 9:30 p.m. is fantastic,” he said. “I give the credit to my staff and all of our election judges. We had to recruit about 100 new poll workers, and they blended in with the established people and made it work.”
Turnout in Jefferson County was 73.6 percent, meaning 117,218 of the county’s 155,355 registered voters cast votes, either by mail-in or mailed absentee ballots, by voting absentee in person and showing up at the polls on Election Day.
In the most recent presidential election in 2016, Jefferson County had a 73.74 percent turnout.
“I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get to 75 percent,” Waller said. “I don’t know why. I can tell you that we were expecting long lines (when polls closed) at 7 p.m., but that didn’t happen. The crowds were a little bigger in the morning than usual, but that’s probably because people wanted to knock it out and avoid lines after work. But we’ve never seen it fall off after 5 p.m.”
Waller said about 18,000 of the 32,719 absentee votes were cast in-person.
The total absentee vote of 20.5 percent of registered voters was about three times the absentee vote from November 2016, when 7.75 percent of voters chose the absentee route.
“We gave them the tools to do it this year (with mail-in ballots, a COVID option for absentee voting and remote in-person absentee voting locations in High Ridge and Arnold), but I think this shows that people really do like the option of voting early,” Waller said.
He said there were no problems reported at the county’s 53 precincts.
“The crowds were very civil,” he said. “They were patient, they wore masks and people from both sides seemed to be able to get through the process while being good to each other. I heard reports that when someone came in and obviously couldn’t stand for a long time, or was in a walker, say, that people let them go to the front and not have to stand in line.
“I think that’s awesome,” Waller said. “Hearing those kinds of things make me proud to live in Jefferson County.”
Regarding the results, it was a Republican sweep in what has been trending as a Republican county.
“I wasn’t surprised by any of the votes,” Waller said.
President Donald J. Trump pulled down 65.89 percent of Jefferson Countians’ votes, a little better than the 64.52 percent he attracted in 2016.
Democrat Joseph Biden had 32.09 percent of the vote, a bit better than the 29.5 percent that Jefferson County gave to Hillary Clinton four years ago.
In races for the state House of Representatives, Republican incumbents Shane Roden (District 111) and Dan Shaul (District 113) easily won their fourth two-year terms.
In the open seat for District 115, Republican Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway easily outpaced Democrat Cynthia D. Nugent.
In District 110, which includes the Eureka area, Republican Dottie Bailey held off a challenge by Democrat John Kiehne.
Olympian Village voters split their decision on pair of ballot issues in Olympian Village. A proposal to annex a small piece of land on along Hwy. 67 was approved, but voters turned thumbs-down on a request to establish a utility business tax.
Voters in the Pacific Fire Protection District approved a 27-cent property tax increase to improve safety measures.
Final, unofficial results (unless otherwise indicated) from the Nov. 3 election. Winners in bold. Incumbents listed with an (I). Ballot issues required a simple majority for passage. Party designations: (R) Republican; (D) Democrat; (L) Libertarian
U.S. PRESIDENT
(Jefferson County vote only)
Donald J. Trump (R) (I) 77,021 65.89%
Joseph R. Biden (D) 37,507 32.09%
Jo Jorgenson (L) 1,633 1.40%
STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
District 110
Dottie Bailey (R) (I) 14,099 65.46%
John Kiehne (D) 7,440 34.54%
District 111
Shane Roden (R) (I) 13,308 70.76%
Daniel (Vern) Cherry (D) 5,469 29.08%
District 113
Dan Shaul (R) (I) 11,146 62.98%
Terry Burgess (D) 6,518 36.83%
District 115
Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway (R) 11,855 72.51%
Cynthia D. Nugent (D) 4,494 27.49%
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
District 2
Ann Wagner (R) (I) 230,617 51.97%
Jill Schupp (D) 201,520 45.41%
Martin Schulte (L) 11,558 2.60%
District 3
Blaine Luetkemeyer (R) (I) 282,424 69.40%
Megan Rezabek (D) 115,909 28.48%
Leonard J. Steinman II (L) 8,328 2.05%
District 8
(429 of 449 precincts reporting)
Jason Smith (R) (I) 240,097 77.28%
Kathy Ellis (D) 65,215 20.99%
Tom Schmitz (L) 5,392 1.74%
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 1
(Term limits on state offices)
(Jefferson County vote only)
Yes 47,757 43.02%
No 63,263 56.98%
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 3
(Revisions to Clean Missouri)
Yes 57,248 51.24%
No 54,468 48.76%
OLYMPIAN VILLAGE PROPOSITION A
(Annexation)
Yes 172 63.47%
No 99 36.53%
OLYMPIAN VILLAGE PROPOSITION U
(Utility business license fee)
Yes 90 33.09%
No 182 66.91%
PACIFIC FPD PROPOSITION SAFETY
(27-cent tax increase)
Yes 4,362 58.74%
No 3,065 41.27%