admin
Some Perry County voters will have to travel to a new polling place to vote in June’s general municipal election.
Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz announced Monday that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Perry County will be consolidating and relocating select polling locations until further notice.
Kutz said the consolidation was necessary to ensure the health and safety of the election judges, especially those who fall into the at-risk category for contracting the novel coronavirus.
Fewer polling locations means fewer poll workers.
“Our election judges are the most crucial part of ensuring our voters can cast a ballot on Election Day,” Kutz said, “and with continued concerns over COVID-19, it was in the best interest of all parties to reduce the number of judges required to manage fewer polling places so we can protect our judges more efficiently.”
Those affected by the change in their polling placewill receive a postcard from the Perry County Clerk’s office informing them of their updated voting location in the coming days.
The change will affect close to 5,000 of Perry County’s registered voters.
Polling locations impacted by the decision are Farrar, Longtown, and Lithium, along with Perryville P-1 and P-4.
Voters who previously cast their ballot at Salem Lutheran School in Farrar will now vote at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Crosstown, Longtown’s voters will now cast their ballot at Grace Lutheran School in Uniontown, Lithium voters will now vote at Elizabeth Seton Hall gym in Brewer, and Perryville’s P-1, Perry County Senior Center voters will join P-4, National Guard Armory voters and cast their ballots at the Perry Park Center.
The June 2 election was postponed from its original April 7 date because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The rescheduled date was already on the Missouri Secretary of State’s calendar as an election day, although one that is rarely used.
In addition to changing polling locations, Kutz also assured county voters that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure the health and safety of both election workers and voters.
Election judges will have protective masks and gloves for use while assisting voters. Voting booths and equipment will be sanitized periodically on Election Day, and hand sanitizer will be available to voters before checking in and after casting their ballots.
In addition, Kutz said his office will offer some flexibility.
“If [voters] are sick, they should stay home,” Kutz said. “I know that they can’t plan when to be sick — it could pop up the weekend before — but if you’re just sick, sick, sick and you want to vote, call my office,” Kutz said. “We do have procedures in place that we can do that inside the county.”
There are even options on election day.
“If they’re sick and they’re not quite sure if they should go in the polling place, then we will have someone come out to their car to help them cast a ballot at their car,” Kutz said. “We just want to do the best we can to protect the other voters and our election judges. So if someone’s sick, they really need to be cognizant of that, and we will do whatever we can to make sure they can cast their ballot.”
For those unable to make it to their polling place, absentee voting opens six weeks prior to any election. Those who wish to vote absentee may cast their ballot in person 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday–Friday, at the Perry County Clerk’s Office, which is located at 321 N. Main St., Suite 2 in Perryville.
For those who wish to receive a ballot in the mail, Kutz said now is the time to request one.
“Feb. 25 was the first date to cast an absentee ballot and that will actually run through the day before the election,” Kutz said, “so any time between now and the day before the election, you can get an absentee ballot. If they want to request one in the mail, there’s a whole process. I would recommend seven or eight days to make sure we get it in time.”
In Missouri, valid reasons for requesting an absentee ballot are:
Absence on election day from the jurisdiction of the election authority in which such voter is registered to vote;
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.
Kutz said Tuesday that anyone in Perry County who requests an absentee ballot would receive one.
“If someone comes to my office and requests an absentee ballot and they tell me they can not make it to the polls on Election Day, they will receive an absentee ballot,” Kutz said.
Perry County has two more elections before the end of the year, the Aug. 4 Primary Election and the Nov. 3 General Election.
Kutz said the changes in voting locations are a rare occurrence in Perry County’s history.
“Folks have been voting in the same place for decades and even generations, so consolidation of these polling locations was not an easy decision to make,” Kutz said. “Fortunately, our election judges are well-trained and professional, and by merging our judge teams, voters will still see familiar faces at the polls when they cast their ballots.”
He also said that he expects there to be some growing pains at new polling places.
“There’s going to be some learning curve, I think, at the at the Park Center, because they’ve never hosted an election and we’ve never held one there,” Kutz said. “We’re hoping to be as prepared as possible.”
Kutz, who predicts a low voter turnout, said that will actually be helpful for the elections later this year.
“It’s going to be a lighter turnout on that day,” Kitz said, “so we’ll be able to kind of plan going forward. I’m not calling it a test run because it’s a real election, but I will say it is our trial attempt to really fine tune things for whenever we get to November when we’re going to have 8-10,000 voters in Perry County casting a ballot.”
When deciding what voting locations to move and consolidate, Kutz said there were a variety of things to consider.
“The decision to combine the polling locations, previously housed at the Perry County Senior Center and Armory, was something of a consideration for quite some time,” he said. “Due to the fact that the Senior Center is a very active building on a daily basis which can create voting logistical difficulties during the lunch hour, and the Armory, while typically an ideal place for polling place, there have been times when concerns arose if we would have access to the facility on election day due to national security threats if our local guard unit were activated.”
For more information on absentee voting, becoming a registered voter or any other election matter, contact the Perry County Clerk’s Office at 573-547-4242.
