Nearly 400 votes cast in Boone County early voting Sunday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Early voting or No-Excuse Absentee voting continued through Sunday at Fredrick Douglass High School, where voters came in to cast their ballots.
Brianna Lennon, the Boone County Clerk, said that on Sunday, about 370 residents came out to vote. Boone County is the only county in Missouri open for early voting.
On Saturday, 607 people voted at the Columbia Mall, and 576 people voted at the Boone County Government, according to Lennon. The highest voter turnout was on Friday, with 1,013 ballots cast.
Lennon said that in total, around 5,400 voters have cast their ballots since early voting started.
In previous reporting, Lennon said the clerk’s office anticipated higher turnout for this election and hired temporary staff to help accommodate voters.
When Boone county is preparing for no excuse abestee, Lennon said the department will hire part-time employees to help staff polling locations when typically the office has between 10 and 13 employees.
"We want to make sure that we have enough staff to make the process efficient and positive for voters," Lennon said.
Lennon said around 50 employees were hired to help out with this election, and salary for the employees are apart of the typical election costs set aside.
There are several measures on the ballot like Amendment 8 and Proposition L.
Amendment 8 will place the county sheriff in the Missouri Constitution; currently, the sheriff's office exists under state law.
Under the current state law, a prosecuting attorney can file a removal complaint based on citizen input and alleged misconduct. If the amendment passes, it will allow only the Missouri Attorney General to start a court proceeding to remove an elected sheriff.
A "yes" vote would change the Missouri Constitution and allow only the Attorney General to file a "writ of quo warranto," which would start the legal process of removal.
A "no" vote would keep the current removal process, which can be started by the prosecuting attorney.
A "no" vote keeps the current removal process, which can be started by the county prosecuting attorney, as outlined by state law.
Proposition L asks Boone County voters to decide whether to approve a 3/8 cent sales tax. This would help fund the Boone County Jail by adding a potential new 570-bed county jail. If the proposition is approved, the tax would be added on to the existing 1/8 cent sales tax that was approved by voters in 2002. The tax would expire in Dec. 31, 2042, and would be collected for those 15 years.
Based on previous reporting, Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey said the current jail does not have enough beds to house all of the inmates, and they are currently sending inmates to out-of-county housing. At a recent Commission meeting, Carey asked the county for $1.9 million to fund the out-of-county detainees for the remainder of the year because they currently do not have enough.
The Boone County Government Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and locations in Ashland and Centralia will be open through next week.
Early voting will continue everyday until November 2, and polls will be open on Saturday during Halloween for residents wanting to cast there vote.
The Sunday leading up to the election, drive-through voting will be available at the Columbia Health Department.
Lennon said the process is simple and that the Boone County Clerk's website will stay up to date with further information and updates for voters.
"You bring your photo ID, it's just like when you vote on Election Day, you just vote before Election Day,"
