Absentee voting open for April election

The April municipal election is right around the corner and the absentee voting is now open. The election has several local races on the ballot, including The Perry County Health Department Board of Trustees, Perry County District 32 School Board, Board of Aldermen, and a Marijuana Sales Tax issue.
Perry County is looking to impose a county-wide sales tax of three percent on all tangible personal property retail sales of adult use marijuana sold in Perry County. During the November general election Amendment 3 passed in the state of Missouri to legalize recreational marijuana. The amendment failed with a 60-40 percent split within Perry County, while it passed overall within Missouri with a 53-47 percent split. The City of Perryville also has the same question on the ballot as well.
“If we tax it, then less people may use it, which is what a majority of people in Perry County wants,” Perryville City Administrator Brent Buerck said in January. “Even though the people voted no, we want people to understand the logic between why we are asking for a tax. It’s coming, so let’s prepare for it. There will be some social implications so we want to have some tax resources to address those concerns.”
The Perry County Health Department Board of Trustees has a pair open spots which will be filled by two of four candidates: Brenda Thurm Hopfer, Jeremy Brewster, Desiree Serini, and Gwen (Moore) Schweiss.
Darrell L. Niswonger’s term has expired on the Perry County Board of Trustees and will be challenged by Joe Hutchison and Robin Huber Sims.
The Perry County School has several openings as Nancy Voelker, Jamie Robinson, and Melissa Hahn’s time has expired for their three-year term. Robinson, Voelker, and Hahn are back on the ballot along with John Schaaf and Glendon Sattler.

The same can be said for the Altenburg Public School District 48 for two open spots as Jessica Hecht, Tamara Palisch, and Amy Ussery.
Oak Ridge R-6 School District has a proposition on the ballot to choose three directors to serve on the school board for a three-year term. Voters will vote for three candidates between Thomas Schreiner, Whitney Kay McFall, Mary Ann Seyer, Andrew Martin, and Jeffrey Linn Hahs.
A similar proposition can be said for Fredericktown High School serve on the school board for a three-year term. Voters will vote for three candidates between Kristen Leigh Starkey, Kenneth Lunsford, Jennifer Hale, and Angela Souden.
Three Perryville Aldermen are up for re-election such as Douglas Martin (Ward 2) and David J. Schumer (Ward 3). Both Schumer and Martin are running unopposed, while Alderman Dennis House is running against Seth Amschler will run for the Ward 1 spot. House was appointed the alderman of Ward 1 after former Ward 1 alderman Larry Riney won the mayoral election in the April 2021 election, unseating Ken Baer.
The City of Altenburg Mayor Daniel Foster is running unopposed, along with Ward 1 Aldermen Kent Grebing and Ward 2 Alderman Luke Ponder. The same is said for City of Frohna Alderman Jason Klaus (Ward 1), Russell Krull (Ward 2), as well as the Village of Longtown Board of Trustees Rick Kinikin and Cindy Shenette.
The City of Altenburg and Frohna each have a question on the ballot to be authorized to forego annual elections if the number of candidates who have filed for a particular office is equal to the number of positions in the office to be filled by the election.
The municipal election will be on April 4.