JOHNSON COUNTY — The April 5 municipal election is now six weeks away, which means it’s time for absentee voting to begin.
Tuesday, Feb. 22 marks the first day of absentee voting for the upcoming election, plus it’s also the first day of candidate filing for the primary election in August; filing ends April 29.
Johnson County Clerk Diane Thompson said any voters who cannot make it to their polling place on Election Day are eligible to absentee vote.
“Missouri does not have what voters like to refer to as early voting. We also do not have no excuse (voting), so when absentee voting, you typically have to have a reason why you’re absentee voting,” Thompson explained. “The application gives several reasons. The most common is absence on Election Day from the jurisdiction — they’ll be traveling out of town, maybe they’re a student going to school somewhere else or in the military stationed elsewhere. The second most commonly used is incapacity or ailment due to illness or physical disability. People in nursing homes or in hospitals, homebound residents that don’t get out.”
Thompson said other reasons include religious beliefs; serving as an election judge; incarceration that does not impact voting qualifications, such as being in jail awaiting trial; and if someone is part of the Missouri Secretary of State’s confidentiality program for people in abuse situations.
In-person absentee voting at the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of the Johnson County Courthouse, 300 N. Holden St. in Warrensburg, is available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturday, April 2, the office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 4.
“If a voter is able to come into the office during regular business hours, they’ll walk in, show their ID, and sign a request for a ballot. It’s the same affidavit that appears on the envelope they send the ballot back in (if voting by mail),” Thompson explained. “It’s the same steps. The difference is if they come into the office to vote, they can cast their ballot directly into a tabulator just as they would on Election Day.”
Voters can fill out an application at jococourthouse.com to receive a ballot by mail. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. March 23.
As the clerk’s office receives requests, the voter’s signature is verified with the signature on file. Once verified, a packet with a ballot, instruction sheet, envelope and affidavit is mailed to the voter.
Thompson noted that absentee voting due to being in the military or being ill or incapacitated does not need a notary. All other mailed absentee voters will need a notary.
Thompson said her office also has a bipartisan team that travels to nursing homes and hospitals to assist voters. The team brings all the needed materials to vote and returns the ballot to the clerk’s office.
The last day to register to vote in the April election is March 9. Citizens can visit jococourthouse.com to see if they are registered by going to the sample ballot page. If the current address is not listed, the voter can reach out to the Johnson County Clerk’s Office for assistance. If the voter moved within Johnson County, they can update their address even on Election Day, but if they moved from a different county, that is considered a new registration and must be completed by March 9.
Thompson said local government impacts people’s lives the most and that citizens are usually more attuned to what’s happening locally, but the interest in April municipal elections is declining.
When a county-wide sales tax question was on the April ballot in 2019, her office looked back to the last time a tax question was posed in a municipal election and found it led to a 20% turnout. The 2019 election only saw 12% of registered voters turn in a ballot.
“It was disappointing and not on trend with what we’d seen in the past,” Thompson said. “Usually when voters’ pocketbooks are being asked to be opened and pay more taxes, they tend to come out and vote and we just aren’t seeing that recently.”
Thompson said voter turnout has significantly declined in the last decade, so her office is making every effort to inform citizens about the upcoming election. She noted that every Johnson County resident has at least two items to vote on: the Western Missouri Medical Center Board of Trustees and the Johnson County Emergency Services Board. Depending on where a voter lives, there are 15 contested races and one ballot question across Johnson County.
“Some people are confused by ‘municipal’ and think it doesn’t pertain to them if they live in the county, or others say don’t care about who’s on school board because they don’t have kids in school,” Thompson offered as an example she’s heard from voters. “But you should have a vested interest in how they are spending your tax dollars.”
For more information, visit www.jococourthouse.com or call 660-747-7414.
