JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo.—It turns out, the advice Ken Waller received from one of his predecessors as Jefferson County Clerk was right on the money for handling the redistricting process as the top election authority in his county.

Enter the data as soon as you get it.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Mike Parson signed into law the new congressional districts map

  • County clerks and election officials in the state have until May 24 to get their Aug. 2 primary ballots

  • Election officials in the St. Louis region hope that by early June, they’ll have maps online that voters can use to drill down to street level to see where the new districts line up

It took Missouri lawmakers months, until late last Thursday, to pass the state’s new congressional districts map, which Gov. Mike Parson signed into law Wednesday.

“This past session, we saw a few individuals’ political posturing obstruct key pieces of priority legislation and promote inefficient and ineffective government. It’s unfortunate so much time and productivity were lost just to receive a map with the same partisan split that was proposed six months ago. These past months could have been better used by county clerks implementing a new map and preparing for upcoming elections,” Parson said in a news release.

Waller and other county clerks and election officials in the state have until May 24 to get their Aug. 2 primary ballots in order and put the right voters in the right districts. Waller has three people assigned in his office to tackle the task.

Those staffers will only have to enter the congressional data, because they’ve already finished entering the voter data for the other, less talked about redistricting process—changes to state legislative and county district boundaries.

Election officials in the St. Louis region hope that by early June, they’ll have maps online that voters can use to drill down to street level to see where the new districts line up. St. Louis County will mail out sample ballots, while Jefferson County said it would be available online because mailing would be time and cost-prohibitive.

Voters will see changes. Voters in Jefferson County who previously were in the 2nd congressional district could find themselves in the 3rd or 8th now. The 3rd district now includes more of St. Charles County than it did previously. The first district now reaches into new corners of St. Louis County. Waller says there will be confusion, but that it’s more of a problem for candidates who now have to fine-tune their geography for approaching voters 10 weeks out from a primary election, than voters.

“Most voters have no idea what district they’re in and never ask,” Eric Fey, St. Louis County’s Director of Elections said.

Waller appears to be taking it all in stride.

“If we can make it through COVID, and the presidential election of 2020, we can make it through anything,” he said.

Missouri Congressional District Map by Spectrum News on Scribd