ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — There's not much time left if you want to vote absentee for the next president of the U.S. or for any race or issue in Missouri. There are some key dates, and they're approaching fast - and not everyone is finding it easy to cast a ballot.
Bill Wilson has been helping his son, a college student in Indiana, vote absentee. But he said the process has been more difficult than expected.
“It looks like a hyperlink. It looks like a hyperlink, but it’s not a hyperlink," he said, referring to the absentee ballot request form on the Missouri Secretary of State's website.
He said he struggled with even finding where to mail the form when he went to the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.
“So it’s just one of those small impediments that make it difficult to vote in the state," he said.
Wilson was also surprised to learn his son’s absentee ballot needs to be notarized.
“I feel you shouldn’t have to pay to vote. It’s crazy. There’s got to be a better way to validate," he said.
Eric Fey, the Democratic director of elections for St. Louis County, said notaries in Missouri can’t charge for this, and there are options.
“Especially for students at universities or colleges out of town in other states, notaries are freely available, usually in college admissions or business offices, things like that," he said.
In Missouri, most mailed absentee ballots must be notarized, returned, and received by the election board by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5. The last day to request a mailed ballot is Oct. 23, the day after no excuse, in-person absentee voting begins.
Rick Stream, the county's Republican director of elections, is urging people to vote early if possible.
“There's on average about 45 different propositions or candidates on there. So it's going to take a while to vote," he said. “Get the sample ballot, fill it out ahead of time and bring that to the polls.”
Absentee voters like Wilson hope the process goes smoothly, and election officials are urging everyone to act quickly.
We asked the Missouri Secretary of State's office if they plan to embed a link for easier access to local election authorities in the absentee ballot request process and are still waiting for a response. With Election Day approaching, officials are urging voters who are in Missouri to take advantage of the no-fault, in-person absentee voting, which starts next Tuesday. There are 14 satellite voting locations in St. Louis County alone.
A spokesperson with Missouri’s Secretary of State told us: “Voters can request absentee ballots from their local election authority in person, by mail, by fax or by e-mail. Relatives within the second degree (spouse, parents and children) may complete an absentee ballot application, in person, on behalf of the voter who wishes to vote absentee. Mail-in or faxed absentee ballot requests must be received by the election authority no later than 5:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday prior to any election.
Voters can vote by absentee in the office of the local election authority until 5:00 p.m. the night before the election.
Voters requesting an absentee ballot by mail who have registered by mail and have not voted in person are required to submit a copy of their personal identification unless they provided a copy with their registration application. Examples of acceptable identification are:
• A non-expired Missouri driver or non-driver license;
• A non-expired military ID, including a veteran’s ID card;
• A non-expired United States passport; or
• Another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri which is either not expired or expired after the date of the most recent general election.
This identification requirement, as well as the notary requirement for absentee ballots, does not apply to overseas voters, those on active military duty or members of their immediate family living with them or voters who are permanently disabled and their caregivers.
From the second Tuesday before an election to the day before the election, you may vote a no-excuse absentee ballot in person at a location designated by your local election authority.”
A spokesperson with the St. Louis City Board of Elections told us in part: “Within 3 days of receiving a request for an absentee ballot, we mail the absentee ballot to the voter. If a voter has not received their absentee ballot within a week, the voter should contact the City absentee department either by email stlcityabsentee@stlouis-mo.gov or by phone 314-622-3230. Using our ballot tracker, the absentee department will be able to give the voter an update regarding the status of their ballot. Once the voter receives their ballot, the voter should, as soon as the voter knows how they plan to vote, mark their ballot and either A) place their ballot in the mail or B) hand-deliver in person the ballot to either the Election Board or one of the Election Board’s no-excuse voting centers (we have 8 locations open City wide beginning Oct. 22); if the voter cannot deliver the ballot in-person, a close family member (spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, mother/father-in-law or daughter/son-in-law) may drop the ballot off at the Election Board for the voter--they will have to sign an affidavit attesting to the familial relation. If the voter chooses to place a ballot in the mail, the materials the voter receives with the ballot contain a code through which the voter can track their ballot to make sure the Election Board receives their ballot. The Election Board must receive the absentee ballot by 7 p.m. on Election Day for the ballot to be counted."