Clerks: Candidate competition, issues boost some turnout numbers

Apr. 5—Voter turnout for Tuesday's city and school elections in Jasper and Newton counties was higher in some specific locations but followed historic trends of being lower than in other elections, according to local election officials.

—Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis said turnout was 10.47%, with 8,281 voters out of 79,080 registered to vote in the county turning out to cast ballots. That compares with 10.06% in 2022 and 5.96% in 2021.

"We will have more of the specific precinct turnout over the next couple of days, but from what my poll workers were telling me, Centennial, Gem and Reeds precincts had fantastic turnout," Davis said. "Carterville's precincts had a fantastic turnout percentagewise. So there were some precincts that had really good turnout, but we had a lot of other ones that had 30 or 40 people vote, so overall it was a pretty low turnout."

—Newton County Clerk Tami Owens said turnout was 12.14%, a little higher than the 9.25% in 2022 and 9.56% in 2021.

"Usually the November elections are anywhere from 46% all the way up to 75%, and August elections are usually a little higher as well," Owens said. "April municipal elections just have a low turnout, but I was happy with this one. It was an increase."

Jasper County

Davis said contested races for seats on the Carterville City Council drove turnout to almost 20% in that town.

Mayor Allan Griffin was unopposed in his race for reelection, but all four ward seats had two people running for them.

The race for the Ward 2 council seat remains undecided after the two candidates, challenger Terri Arterburn and incumbent Judy Martin, tied with 31 votes each in unofficial results posted Tuesday night by Davis.

Griffin said Wednesday the city was researching state statutes to determine how to resolve the situation and that no decision had been made at that time. He also said he was awaiting official election results to see if there were any absentee ballots that could break the tie.

Davis said it would be up to the city and candidates to determine how to break the tie.

"It could be a flip of the coin or draw straws," Davis said. "In the meantime, I will be looking personally at the ballots, not officially as a recount, but I can actually look at the scanned images and look at all 62 ballots for that ward and make sure it is correct. If it is correct, they will have to make the decision what to do. I do believe they can request another election, but the city will have to pay for it. It could be around $1,000 to rerun one ward in Carterville."

The election featured close results in several races across the county.

—In Carthage, 62 votes out of more than 3,100 cast were the difference between passage and failure for a $26 million school bond issue.

The measure needed a 57.1% majority to pass, but it received 55.13% yes votes. The actual vote count was 1,726 "yes" to 1,405 "no."

—In Carl Junction, incumbent Mayor Mark Powers beat former Mayor Mike Moss by six votes, 312 to 306.

Davis said that result was within the 1% margin that would allow Moss to petition the Jasper County Circuit Court for a recount, but Moss has said he would accept the results.

"He believes the election is full of integrity and the results are the results, so he told me he wasn't going to ask for a recount," Davis said. "That's the only race that fell within that 1%."

Davis cited the effort of his 10 staff members, 181 poll workers and volunteers from Missouri Southern State University in the preparation for and operation of Tuesday's elections in the county.

"They make me look good," he said.

Newton County

Owens said the Neosho school bond issue and the race for Newton County Health Board drove turnout there.

—Six people ran for three seats on the health board, with Arnie Henson, Scott Wade and Jim Conner winning the seats.

—Neosho voters approved a $14 million bond issue to pay for an expanded agricultural center to be built near Neosho Junior High and other projects. That measure needed 57.1% "yes" votes to pass, and it got 65%.

—In the Diamond School District, 68% of voters said "yes" to a $6 million school bond issue to build a new early childhood center. That measure also needed a 57.1% "yes" vote to pass.