Those considering running for spots on city councils, boards of education and fire and ambulance district boards will have a shorter window this year to decide and file to be a candidate.
Under legislation passed by the Missouri General Assembly and signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Mike Parson, the filing date for April general elections has been shortened and moved to an earlier spot on the calendar.
The new law sets the dates for this year’s filing period from 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28, giving candidates three weeks to enter a race.
Under the previous law, the filing period would have been five weeks long.
Jeannie Goff, chief of staff for the County Clerk’s Office, said she believes the impetus to change the filing dates came from county clerks around the state.
“I think a lot of the clerks felt there wasn’t enough time to get candidates qualified to be put on a ballot before it goes to print,” she said.
Because absentee ballots must be sent out six weeks before the election – which for an April election means mid-February – that didn’t leave a lot of time for officials of the cities, school districts and service districts to ensure their candidates met all the requirements to run before they were required to turn over the names to the County Clerk’s Office so ballots could be printed.
“The certification date (Jan. 25, 2022) did not change, so the new law gives everyone a little more time to make sure the names of the candidates they turn over to us will be the ones who are actually running,” Goff said.
Candidates can be disqualified if they are not current on paying taxes to the entity they’re running for, she said.
“They have 30 days to pay after they’re challenged,” she said. “The (date change) allows us a chance to have more good ballots printed.”
After the certification date, a candidate or entity must petition a circuit court to take a name off the ballot.
Goff said the shortening of the filing period shouldn’t be a problem for candidates.
“In every election, people show up on the first few days or the last week,” she said. “Especially in the April election, we never hear from anyone during the New Year’s period until the last week. I don’t think this is going to discourage anyone from running.”
Candidates for ambulance and special road district boards and Jefferson County 911 Dispatch file at the County Clerk’s Office in Hillsboro; others declare their candidacy at the offices of the entities for which they’re running.
For more information, call the County Clerk’s Office at 636-797-5486.