Jasper County voter turnout forecast at 20%

Aug. 5—Only one in five eligible Jasper County voters is expected to go to the polls Tuesday, according to a forecast by Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis.

Davis said on Monday that 935 people had already cast absentee ballots in person or by mail in the weeks leading up to the primary.

"If we have 1,000 absentee votes, both in person and mail-in, that's going to be around 20% turnout," Davis said. "I am projecting less than a 20% turnout at the polls. In 2022, we had 16.9% turnout, and in 2020, we had right at 20%."

Davis said polling places have not changed in several election cycles, so people who voted in the last election should go to the same place. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

"The biggest thing we're going to ask for, which we've asked for a couple of years now, you have to show a photo ID," he said. "We'll have signs up at every location with pictures of what's required to vote, which is great because we've never had an issue. Most people have shown their driver's licenses when they came into the polls long before they passed the law and voters approved the constitutional provision."

Davis said this primary features a larger-than-normal number of contested races.

Two of the contested Jasper County races are coming because of vacancies — four people are running for Western District commissioner because incumbent Darieus Adams is not running for reelection, and two people filed for treasurer because Denise Rohr decided not to run. Four others are running for Eastern District commissioner. There is also a race for sheriff, coroner and for seats in the Missouri House of Representatives. Voters also will decide several races for state office, U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

Two Missouri constitutional amendments are also on the ballot.

Stories about many of the races, candidates and issues can be found at joplinglobe.com.

"What I recommend is that people bring a cheat sheet," Davis said. "We've encourage people in the past to download their sample ballot and fill it out at home. Research the candidates. Our Founding Fathers wanted us to be an educated electorate."

Davis said his office takes all precautions to make sure the possibility of election interference is minimized.

"We follow Missouri statutes, and Missouri statutes specifically direct us how we run elections," he said. "We have no machines that are connected to the internet, whether it's at the polls, the tabulator machine, the poll pad, which has all the registered voters for that precinct on it — none of them are connected to the internet. The RTR machine — the machine we do our report and tallying on Tuesday night — is not connected to the internet."

He said electioneering is not permitted 25 feet from the door to the polling place, and in places where polls are set up at private businesses or churches, electioneering may be prohibited entirely by the property owner.

"We ask people not to wear anything that's related to a candidate to the polls — no shirts, no hats, no buttons, no handing out literature at the polling locations," Davis said. "Be kind, and if you're wearing a shirt or hat of that kind, the poll worker will ask you to remove your hat or turn your shirt inside out or put a coat on or something. It's not that they're trying to be mean; it's that statutes direct us to make sure that no electioneering is happening, and wearing a party emblem or a picture on a shirt is electioneering inside the polls."

Davis said to also be on the lookout for misleading preelection social media posts or emails.

For more information, go to the Jasper County clerk's website at https://www.jaspercountymo.gov/county-clerk and scroll down to elections.