Special Report

The final stretch up to Election Day is upon the Grundy County Courthouse. In-person absentee voting ends at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and polls open the next morning for Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6 a.m.

County Clerk Courtney Campbell’s office has been busy since absentee voting opened in mid-October, handling both walk-in voters and a steady stream of mailed ballots.

“We had 27 in-person, no excuse voters for the first day on Oct. 20,” Campbell told the Trenton Telegraph.

Missouri voters don’t need a reason to cast an absentee ballot in person. Grundy County residents can do so at the county clerk’s office during regular hours until the Monday deadline, according to the county’s absentee voting schedule.

Mail voting has kept the clerk’s office busy, too. By late October, most of the mailed ballots sent out had already come back.

“We have had 114 mail-in/absentee ballots requested and 90 have been returned,” Campbell said.

The window to request a mailed ballot closed earlier this month. Unlike in-person absentee voting, voting by mail requires a qualifying reason under state rules, such as being away from the county on Election Day, illness or physical disability, or religious belief or practice.

Voters who still have a mailed ballot at home should get it in right away. Completed ballots must reach the election authority by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, under state absentee voting instructions.

They should also follow the signature and notarization instructions included in their ballot packet.

Whether they vote early or on Election Day, in-person voters should come prepared. Voters should bring an acceptable photo ID, such as a current Missouri driver’s license or nondriver license, U.S. passport or military ID, according to the Missouri secretary of state’s voting guide.

Registered voters without acceptable identification can still cast a provisional ballot.

“If they come to vote with their voter card and no form of picture ID, they can vote and their ballot will be placed in a provisional envelope,” Campbell said. “They can come back to their polling place on Election Day with picture ID and their ballot can then be taken out of the envelope and put in the machine and counted.”

Under the secretary of state’s guidance, a provisional ballot counts if the voter returns before polls close with acceptable ID, or if election officials find the signature on the provisional envelope matches the voter’s registration signature. Voters receive a stub with instructions for checking whether their ballot counted.

Once they get their ballots, voters won’t find any head-to-head races for county office. Five county offices are up for election this year, Campbell said.

“County offices that are on the ballot this time are – associate circuit judge, presiding commissioner, clerk of the circuit court and ex-officio recorder of deeds, clerk of the county commission and prosecuting attorney,” Campbell said. “None of these are contested races in this election.”

On Election Day, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters with questions can call the county clerk’s office at (660) 359-4040.

Voters in one part of Trenton will find their polling place at a newer location.

Trenton’s 2nd Ward and Lincoln Township moved from the Ketcham Community Center to the Grundy County Health Department Annex, 1307 E. 17th St., starting with the April election, and the change remains in place, KTTN reported.

Here’s where Grundy County votes on Election Day, according to Campbell:

• Liberty and Myers townships: Galt Baptist Church

• Franklin and Washington townships: Spickard Christian Church

• Wilson and Marion townships: Laredo Community Building

• Madison and Taylor townships: Edinburg Baptist Church

• Trenton 1st Ward and Jefferson Township: Grundy County Courthouse

• Trenton 2nd Ward and Lincoln Township: Grundy County Health Department Annex

• Trenton 3rd Ward and Harrison Township: First Christian Church

• Trenton 4th Ward and Jackson Township: First Baptist Recreational Center.