Record turnout for no-excuse absentee voting in Greene Co.

Registered voters in Missouri who wished to vote before Election Day on Nov. 5 were able to cast no-excuse absentee ballots in person from Wednesday, Oct. 22, through Monday, Nov. 4, at the Library Center and the Elections Center, both in Springfield. Shane Schoeller, Greene County Clerk, said almost 40,000 registered Greene County voters took advantage of the absentee voting option to cast their votes early.
“We had 39,110 absentee ballots issued,” he said, “which is 17.9 percent of all registered voters in Greene County.”
Schoeller said that many of those who came to vote early said they were afraid they might not be able to vote on Election Day, so they wanted to make sure their vote was in ahead of time.
“Anybody you talk to; they just want to make sure that their voice is heard,” he said. “(They) want to make sure their vote is counted.”
Some of the reasons people gave for voting early, Schoeller said, included being away on Nov. 5 or having difficulties getting to the polls on Election Day.
“Some people are going to be out of town, for example,” he said. “Other people thought the day that they had (planned) would really make it hard for them to vote on the day of the election, even if they are in town.”
The last time Greene County saw a comparable number of voters cast ballots early, Schoeller said, was during the 2020 Presidential Election.
“I think it was close to 32,000 that voted (in) that election,” he said. “So, now that we have no-excuse absentee, which we did not have then, we have exceeded that number. However, the difference is, in 2020, a little less than half returned (their ballots) by mail, (and) a little over half in person. So, we didn’t see near the numbers in person as we have this election.”