MORE THAN 23,000 VOTED EARLY IN PLATTE COUNTY
The two-week early voting period wrapped up in Platte County at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. And the numbers are impressive, if not staggering.
The Platte County Board of Elections tells The Landmark that 23,295 people took advantage of the absentee voting (regular absentees plus the two-week no excuse absentee period) option. That is more than 32 percent of the active registered voters in Platte County.
This means that by Election Day, nearly one-third of county voters had already cast ballots.
By Friday, Nov. 2 at about 1 p.m., 18,469 Platte Countians had taken part in early voting at the Platte County Board of Elections, located at 2600 NW Prairie View Road in Platte City. On Saturday, the early voting was offered from 8 a.m. to noon and even with cool and overcast weather conditions, the line of voters at times extended from the doors of the board of elections office about a block and half or two blocks down the sidewalk along Prairie View Road.
This cycle was the first presidential election in which no-excuse absentee voting was an option in Missouri.
Platte County voter turnout for the 2020 presidential election was 82.67 percent. Absentee turnout in the 2020 presidential election, the COVID year, was 26.5 percent.
“The election of 2020 was extraordinary for the amount of mail-in absentee ballots cast and the general interest in absentee voting due to the pandemic,” said Chris Hershey, director for the Platte County Board of Elections.
Early voting turnout was so strong this year that Platte County officials will be discussing the possibility of offering a second location for early voting in the future.
“Providing a second location has been brought up with our board and there is a plan to discuss it at our next meeting. I doubt we see a turnout like this until 2026 so there is a bit of time to plan,” Hershey told The Landmark on Tuesday.
Regular voting opened at 6 a.m. today (Tuesday, Nov. 5) at the usual polling sites throughout Platte County. Voting continues until 7 p.m. If you are standing in line by 7 p.m. elections officials are mandated to allow you to cast your ballot, even if you won’t be finished with the process by 7 p.m.
