ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo–Missouri voters are taking advantage of the new no-excuse absentee voting period that opened Oct. 25 and continues through Nov. 7, and so far, the state's top election official says he's hearing the process has been problem-free

What You Need To Know

  • No-excuse absentee voting is new in 2022, part of a law that also makes voters show a valid state or federal photo ID to use a regular ballot
  • Voters without a valid photo ID cannot vote during the no-excuse absentee period, which ends Nov. 7
  • Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft believes in most cases, voters will know results by late on Election Night Nov. 8

The new absentee period was a concession agreed to by Democrats in the state legislature last spring as part of a GOP election bill that includes a photo ID requirement to vote with a regular ballot. Voters who don’t have a valid Missouri or U.S. government issued photo ID can’t vote during the no-excuse absentee period and will have to wait to use a provisional ballot on Nov. 8, when election officials will match the voter’s signature with what’s already on file. Provisional ballots are counted separately.

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The St. Louis County Board of Elections office in St. Ann is set up along with 6 satellite locations for no-excuse absentee voting. After a week of voting at the Daniel Boone branch of the St. Louis County Library, officials announced Tuesday that it would move the location to a larger room on the lower level starting Wednesday due to high turnout. Voters faced a wait time of roughly 45 minutes Tuesday as the line snaked through the library and almost out the door. At least one voter who arrived there left when she was told how long it would take.

St. Louis County has a pair of online line trackers that can help you find the fastest precinct. One is for the absentee voting period. The other is for voting on election day. In St. Louis County, voting can be done at any precinct. 

Eric Fey, the Democratic St. Louis County Election Commissioner said if the current pace continues, the county should pass 2018 absentee figures. The same is true in St. Charles County, according to Elections Director Kurt Bahr.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft told Spectrum News Wednesday that his office hasn’t heard of any problems so far. He did say that the new no-excuse period is one reason why predicting turnout will be a challenge.

“We really don’t have the same certainty with turnout that we’ve had in the past. The 2020 numbers aren’t a good baseline because of COVID,” he said, “and then because of the use of the no-excuse in person absentee voting. Historical data from other states would seem to suggest that that just shifts when people vote, it doesn’t generally bring in new voters, but we don’t know if that’ll be the case in Missouri.”

The photo ID law could lead to more provisional ballots cast, which election officials have said could add some more time to the voting process itself thanks to some extra paperwork. Ashcroft is confident that in the “vast majority” of races, the unofficial results released on election night will stand up without an impact from provisional ballots, or military ballots, which don’t have to be in the hands of election officials until the Friday after election day at noon.