Jefferson County Clerk Jeannie Goff said she was a little disappointed by the voter turnout on Election Day, Nov. 3.
According to the clerk’s website, the county saw a voter turnout of 47.7 percent of all registered voters, with 79,264 ballots counted. An average November election has about a 53 percent voter turnout, Goff said.
“I know the rain probably had a lot to do with it,” Goff said. “But I really thought we were going to surpass (the average turnout) with the way early voting that was happening.”
Goff said about 14,000 ballots were cast in the election before Nov. 3, mirroring the nationwide trend of early voting. According to PBS, more than 43 million mail-in and early in-person votes were cast nationally five days before Election Day, nearly 10 million more than what was cast in 2022.
Goff said the county had about 4,000 mail-in and early in-person ballots cast in the 2022 midterm election. At that time, early voting was a new offering in the county.
“It's really hard to do a comparison (between now and 2022) because it just wasn't as well known to the public then, you know,” Goff said. “It was kind of a new thing, and we were just getting the word out. The more we go on, and people become aware that they can vote early, you know, we may see bigger turnouts for the midterms and April elections.”
According to turnout data on the clerk’s website, the county’s rural areas saw, on average, a higher voter turnout than the more suburban or urban areas. For example, about 31 percent of the registered voters at the Festus K.C. Hall showed up to vote on Election Day compared to 40 percent of voters at the Jefferson High School voting precinct in rural R-7.
More rural voters also came out to the Brookdale Farms voting precinct in the Jefferson County portion of Eureka (at nearly 47 percent) than the adjacent precinct at the High Ridge Compass Health Network (at 38 percent).
Goff said this may have to do with the new and growing subdivisions cropping up in the western portion of the county.
In terms of races on the ballot, Goff said she wasn’t particularly surprised by any outcomes. Republicans won big in the county, bucking the “blue wave” of Democratic wins nationwide. As of Nov. 4, Democrats flipped seven Senate seats, with two more races still uncalled, and won at least 245 House seats. The party also flipped several governors’ offices to Democratic control.
Republican Tim Whitney was elected to become the next county executive in Jefferson County; Lucas Null was elected the next associate circuit judge for Division 10; and Jaclyn Riebold was chosen to be the next county clerk.
Missouri House seats representing the county remained in GOP control, along with the Missouri Senate and congressional House districts in the county.
“I didn’t see anything that looked out of the norm,” Goff said. “Recently, historically, the Republicans have been coming out and winning the races, but you just never know if that could change. But it pretty much stayed what was expected with that kind of thing.”
At the polls
At the Northwest Early Childhood Center in House Springs, election judges Rebecca Ivy of High Ridge and Rick Rouse of House Springs said they saw a steady turnout of voters throughout the day. Ivy, who has worked election polls for 30 years, and Rouse, who has worked for 10 years, mentioned seeing many well-informed voters in this midterm election.
“We are actually seeing quite a few people who haven’t voted in a while show up to vote this time around,” Ivy said. “The amendments have people talking. I always wish to see more people come out and vote.”
Ethan Jessee of House Springs came out to vote on the amendments on the ballot.
“I wanted to make sure I was heard on those, especially Amendment 6,” he said. “I think it's a good thing to keep them (lawmakers) from overreaching. When we put something in, like the minimum wage and paid sick leave, they changed it after our voices were heard and we passed it.”
“Same with Prop A; it is ridiculous,” Jessee added. “I think every voice counts. We've seen before that we've passed by little margins, so every voice counts.”
Voters approved Amendment 6, which will expand the initiative and referendum petition process. The RespectMoVoters group led a petition drive to put the measure on the ballot. Proponents said Amendment 6 will make it more difficult for legislators to overturn or weaken laws enacted through the initiative process.
Missourians said no to Prop A, which would enact a new congressional district map proposed by Republicans last year.
Melissa Gipson of House Springs showed up to vote with her family, John Gipson and Amber Kennedy, and shared that this time voting was the quickest it has ever been and voiced her feelings on Amendment 3.
Missouri voters defeated Amendment 3, the Prohibit Abortion and Gender Transition Procedures for Minors Amendment. If the amendment had passed, the existing law would have been reversed and most abortions would have once again been banned in Missouri, leaving exceptions only for medical emergencies, fetal anomaly and cases of rape or incest. In cases of rape or incest, abortion would have only been legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
“Amendment 3 was a biggie. I think all females feel the same way,” Melissa Gipson said.
“I honestly believe that if there was more (voter) participation, a lot of good can happen from it,” John Gipson added. “It just makes no sense to stand idle and then complain about things that you didn’t take part in changing.”
Richard Tucker, 68, of High Ridge said he has been volunteering during elections for many years.
“Somebody needs to do it; It's part of our civic responsibility,” he said. “My wife's parents did it all their lives, and when they passed, we decided to take over the mantle and do that about 18 years ago.”
At the Arnold Recreation Center polling place on the morning of Election Day, the ballot box produced an error. This led the poll workers to follow the proper protocol to make sure ballots were still accounted for.
“There was an error message, and with many people in line waiting to enter their ballots, you put them into a temporary hold in the back (of the machine),” Tucker said. “We rectified the particular problem we had with the electronics, and then later on when there's a lull in the voting, we can take those (ballots) out of the temporary holding area, have a judge of each party feed them through, and make sure everything is done impartially.”
Julianna Springkamper, 30, of Imperial said she came out to vote to show more representation for her community.
“I'm Latina in a predominantly white neighborhood, so just got to get more representation out there for us,” she said.
Springkamper said not enough people are coming out to vote during elections.
“Too many people are not voting, so there's a lot of voices not being heard,” she said. “Whether that's children of parents that don't vote or whatever it may be, I just know there's not enough of us out there fighting.”
“I just really hope to see change,” she said.
At Seckman Middle School, Kurt Buschbacher of Imperial said he has been a poll worker for the past four years. He noted that early voting saw more of an elderly crowd concerned about long lines, but the midterm turnout included a diverse mix of working and younger people.
“The turnout has been pretty good for a midterm election,” Buschbacher said. “A lot of people turned out because of the issues pertinent to Missouri, all the amendments and propositions that are on the ballot.”
Buschbacher mentioned that many people came into the polling place with a firm stance on how they would vote, but a lot of them voiced their concern about the ballot language.
“People have been talking about confusion on some of the ballots and the way they're written; they're almost like a double negative,” he said. “I've heard that repeatedly regarding Amendment 3. People know how they want to vote, but when they read it, they don't know what they're really voting for.
“And, as an election judge, all we're allowed to do is read the ballot verbatim. I've seen multiple people frustrated with that.”
Shannon Diamond, 64, of De Soto said she voted no on Amendment 3 because she felt it was written in a way to confuse people.
“Abortion is between a woman and God,” she said.
Diamond also said she voted no on the other amendments because she was tired of their confusing language.
Craig Smith, 56, of De Soto, said he voted yes on Amendment 3 and no on Amendment 6 because they were aligned with his conservative values.
He also said he voted for Republican candidates and against the judges on the ballot.
Madison Young, 21, of De Soto said it is important for young voters to get out on Election Day.
She said she voted no on Amendment 3 and yes on Amendment 6.
Young also said she voted for Democrat candidates because she wants to see something different in the state.
“People want blue policies but don’t vote for the politicians that support them,” she said.