If there’s one thing Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz wants county residents to know regarding to the Nov. 3 general election, it’s that voting in person is safe — or at least, as safe as his office and election officials can make it.
“Voting in person is safe,” Kutz said. “That’s the message I want to get out. It’s safe and it is also the surest way to ensure your ballot counts.”
In Missouri, voters who are concerned about voting in person or who won’t be able to make it to the polls on election day will be able to request absentee or mail-in ballots beginning Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Concerns over in-person voting began cropping up in the spring, as preparations for the scheduled municipal election in April were underway, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading across the country.
That election, which would have fallen during the statewide stay-at-home order, was ultimately postponed until June, giving the Missouri Secretary of State’s office time to develop new procedures and safety protocols and share them with election authorities across the state.
Those protocols — which include face coverings for election workers, increased sanitization and increased allowances for absentee and mail-in ballots — have served local voters well.
“In both previous elections, we had zero contact tracing events occur with our precincts,” Kutz said. “We had zero judges that were impacted by this and we had zero voters impacted.”
A big part of that, Kutz said, has to do with efficiency.
As of the Aug. 4 primary election, Perry County had 12,705 registered voters The busiest polling place, the Perry Park Center, serves two of the county’s 18 precincts — 2,480 voters, 814 of which voted in the primary election.
“I sat there [at the Park Center] during one of the busiest times of the day,” Kutz said, “and I timed [voters] from when they walked in to when they walked out, and it was less than 10 minutes.”
Many of the voters, he said, also wore face coverings, even sometimes poking their head in, seeing election workers in masks and then returning to their vehicles to get their own before coming in.
For those who are at high risk for contracting the virus or are still concerned about voting in person, there are other options available, including curbside voting for those who can’t physically make it inside the polling place on election day, absentee ballots and, at least for this year, mail-in ballots.
Absentee voting and voting by mail have special rules attached.
As usual, absentee ballots are available for those who will not be able to make it to the polls or those who fall into higher-risk categories for contracting COVID-19.
According to state law, registered voters who expect to be prevented from going to their polling place on election day may vote by absentee ballot beginning six weeks prior to an election, which for November’s election would be Sept. 22.
Among the approved reasons for voting absentee are being absent from the jurisdiction of the election authority in which such voter is registered to vote on election day; incapacity or confinement due to illness or physical disability, including a person who is primarily responsible for the physical care of a person who is incapacitated or confined due to illness or disability; religious belief or practice; employment as an election authority, as a member of an election authority, or by an election authority at a location other than such voter’s polling place; incarceration, provided all qualifications for voting are retained; and certified participation in the state’s address confidentiality program.
Some of those reasons — such as religious beliefs, working as an election worker, or being absent from the voting jurisdiction — require a notary public, while others do not.
“The best way is to go ahead and just come in and vote in our office,” Kutz said. “We’ll have a precinct set up in my office for the six weeks leading up to the election. [Voters can] walk in, sign a poll pad, get the ballot, vote they put it in the machine.”
Kutz said curbside service would also be available for those who want to vote absentee at his office but cannot make it inside.
As in June’s delayed municipal election and the August primary, voters may also request an absentee ballot if they have contracted or are in an at-risk category for contracting or transmitting COVID-19.
According to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, voters who are considered at-risk for contracting or transmitting COVID-19 are those who are 65 years of age or older; live in a long-term care facility; have chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma; have serious heart conditions; those have compromised immune systems; have diabetes; have chronic kidney disease and are undergoing dialysis; or have liver disease.
Mail-in ballots are a different story. According to the Secretary of State’s office, any Missouri voter is eligible to vote by mail-in ballot this year only. The process is very specific.
Voters must complete an application to request a mail-in ballot in person or by mail and deliver to their election authority by 5 p.m. on Oct. 21 for the November 3 election. After receiving a ballot and filling it out, voters must have the envelope notarized and returned by mail by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
“ The number one reason that we reject a ballot — either absentee or a vote by mail — is because there isn’t a signature on the envelope,” said Kutz, who stressed that mail-in ballots must be returned in the mail and not dropped off by the voter. “That mail-in ballot has to be notarized, which means they have to get out and visit a notary. If they’re going to have to do that, we would encourage them to come into the office.”
As always, Kutz encouraged anyone with questions regarding voting in the November 3 election to contact his office at 573-547-4242. The Perry County Clerk’s office is located in the Perry County administration building located at 321 N. Main Street in Perryville.
“The safest and secure way to ensure that everyone’s vote is counted if they can’t go to the polls is to come and do it in my office,” Kutz said.
