Live updates from election night: Amendment 3 passes in Missouri; Kehoe wins governor race
Election night is over; the live blog is as well. Catch up on Post-Dispatch coverage of results:
Recreational pot sales stay legal in Olivette and Des Peres
An effort to ban recreational pot sales in two St. Louis County municipalities went up in smoke Tuesday after failing to garner enough support from voters.
In Olivette, 53% of voters approved a ban. But the measure needed at least 60% approval from city voters to pass, under state law.
In Des Peres, a ban failed to get even a simple majority approval. Roughly 55% of voters rejected the idea. Read more .
Amendment 3 passes in Missouri
Missouri voters approved a measure on Tuesday that enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution and replaces a near-total ban on the procedure. The measure guarantees a person's right to get an abortion and make other reproductive health decisions. It opens the door to legal challenges of a ban on most abortions that took effect immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The measure made the ballot after an intense legal fight led by anti-abortion advocates who sought to prevent a vote. The Associated Press called the race.
Read more .
Republican wins south St. Louis County Council race
Republican G. Michael Archer won Tuesday night in a contested race to represent south St. Louis County, according to unofficial election results.
Archer, known as Mike, won comfortably with 53% of votes compared to Democrat Kevin Schartner's 48%, leaving the district in Republican hands.
Read more .
An election with few surprises, other than perhaps a banana and a Power Ranger
From Joe Holleman :
Election Day offered few surprises for this bureau, but it certainly had its high notes:
The rain let up, polling place and doughnut shop lines disappeared — and a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger agreed to be interviewed.
Read more .
Hawley defeats Kunce in Missouri race for U.S. Senate, AP says
Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley defeated Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce in an expensive race for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night.
The Associated Press called the race for Hawley at 9:28 p.m. Tuesday. With about 45% of votes counted, Hawley was leading Kunce by a 52%-to-46% margin, according to the Associated Press. Read more .
Jefferson, St. Charles counties have yet to release absentee vote counts
Election officials in Jefferson and St. Charles counties say that they have not yet released the results of absentee votes. St. Charles County had a large number of mail-in ballots arrive today.
Ann Wagner wins 2nd Congressional District race
Republican Rep. Ann Wagner won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Missouri on Tuesday.
Wagner captured her seventh term in the 2nd District in suburban St. Louis by defeating Democrat Ray Hartmann. Read more .
St. Louis city finishes vote count
St. Louis election officials have posted the results from all the city's precincts .
A proposal to give the Board of Aldermen the ability to propose increases to the budget failed. About 53% of the voters opposed Proposition B.
Bob Onder wins U.S. 3rd Congressional District race
Republican Bob Onder won election to a U.S. House seat representing Missouri on Tuesday.
Onder captured his first term in the 3rd District, which covers central and east-central Missouri, by defeating Democrat Bethany Mann. Read more .
Amendment 3 holds lead as more votes come in
Amendment 3, with 19% of precincts reporting, was passing with 54% of the votes. The amendment would overturn the state's abortion ban.
Amendment 2, the effort to legalize sports gambling, was winning with about 54% of the votes. Amendment 5, to authorize the construction of a casino at the Lake of the Ozarks, was failing with 52% no votes. Amendment 7, which addressed various voting issues, was passing with about 68%. Amendment 6, which would charge a court fee to fund sheriff's pensions, was failing with 62% of the votes.
Proposition A, which would increase the minimum wage, was passing with about 61% of the vote.
Josh Hawley gains a lead in Senate race
Incumbent Josh Hawley has gained the lead in the race for U.S. Senate. The Republican carries 50% of the vote, with 24% of precincts reporting. Democrat Lucas Kunce has 47% of the vote. Read more .
Republican pulls ahead in south St. Louis County Council race
In another batch of results, Republican G. Michael "Mike" Archer jumped ahead of his opponent, Democrat Kevin Schartner, in the race to represent south St. Louis County on the council.
With votes counted from 35% of polling places, or 82 out of 230, Archer was ahead with 51% of votes compared to Schartner's 49%. Read more .
Senate race essentially deadlocked
With 11% of precincts reporting, the race between Josh Hawley, R., and Lucas Kunce was essentially tied, with both candidates holding 48.9% of the vote. Read more .
Missouri picks Kehoe over Quade in race for governor
Missouri's No. 2 statewide official was poised to become Missouri's 58th governor Tuesday, as early unofficial returns showed him cruising to victory over the minority leader of the House.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe comfortably led the polls in the reliably red state, and initial vote counts showed he was garnering strong rural support in his bid to take the seat instead of Democrat Crystal Quade. Read more .
The Amendment 3 race has narrowed, with the measure passing at 54% and 9% of precincts reporting.
Wesley Bell wins U.S. House seat
The Associated Press has called the 1st Congressional District race for Wesley Bell. The Democrat was expected to win the district, which covers St. Louis city and part of St. Louis County.
Read more .
Live map of Amendment 3 results
If approved, the constitutional amendment would effectively end the state's abortion ban. Read more .
Early results on Missouri amendments
With about 1% of precincts reporting, voters are supporting Missouri Amendment 3 64% to 36%. The amendment would overturn the state's abortion ban .
Another closely watched statewide race, Amendment 2, which would legalize sports gambling , is narrowly failing. The no votes are at 52% and the yes votes are at 48%. See more results of statewide races .
In the U.S. Senate race , Democrat Lucas Kunce holds a lead over incumbent Josh Hawley, Republican. Kunce has 56% of the vote to Hawley's 43%. That's with 2% of precincts reporting.
Similarly, Democrat Crystal Quade has a narrow lead over Republican Mike Kehoe; 52% to 47% in the race for Missouri governor . That race also has 2% of precincts reporting.
Many rural counties have yet to report results, however, so all those races could swing towards Republicans.
See more results of statewide races .
Democrat pulls to early lead in south St. Louis County Council race
Early absentee results Tuesday night put Democrat Kevin Schartner ahead of his Republican opponent G. Michael "Mike" Archer in the race to represent south St. Louis County.
The district is a closely watched County Council race this year. The district, which runs from the River Des Peres to Jefferson County, has become "purple," with its denser, urban north voting largely for Democrats and its more spacious suburbs to the south going largely Republican. Read more .
St. Louis County has begun reporting results
Some Missouri results being tallied
At least one precinct in Missouri is reported results for statewide races, including U.S. Senate, governor and other offices.
The Post-Dispatch is relying on the Associated Press to report the statewide results. Read more about how the newspaper is reporting on vote results for the St. Louis area .
See the results for Missouri's statewide races, including U.S. Senate. This page also has the Missouri House and Senate races .
St. Charles County expects small delay
St. Charles County is expecting one more batch of absentee votes to be counted Tuesday night causing a small delay in no-excuse voting results being posted.
St. Charles County Election Authority Kurt Bahr said Tuesday that he was notified late this afternoon that a significant number of absentee ballots arrived today at the main USPS processing and sorting center in St. Louis.
He said a carrier is en route to the St. Louis County Board of Elections office to pick up the St. Charles County absentee ballots. St. Louis County office staff picked up the St. Charles County and St. Louis County ballots in order to save St. Charles County officials from making the trip downtown.
The arrival of these absentee ballots is expected to delay the posting of absentee vote results on Tuesday night.
Election results from in-person voting will be posted on the county's website as they are tallied, Bahr said.
At least some voters were still casting ballots at the election authority in St. Peters at 7:35 p.m. — Ethan Colbert
Track election results for county and statewide elections here .
Missouri polls have closed
Any voters who were in line at polling places when they closed will be able to cast their votes.
Meanwhile, county election authorities can begin releasing the results of any early and absentee votes. Vote results will continue to update through the night as workers close precincts and bring ballots to election authorities.
In November 2020, about 68% of the total votes cast were reported by 11 p.m. Turnout that year was 70% statewide.
Track election results for county and statewide elections here .
Election Day 2024 has finally arrived, and authorities report high turnout as Missourians exercise their right to vote on important races and ...Lines lengthen as darkness falls
Voters in at least one location in St. Charles County were waiting in lines that stretched outside polling places. At the St. Charles Christian Church, one voter said he had been waiting for about 30 minutes in a line that stretched down the block.
The church is in the New Town area in St. Charles.
Voters viewpoints differ: Frantic about a fair election; believing in the candidate
A few voters at McKelvey Elementary School in Maryland Heights had viewpoints that fell along party lines.
Elizabeth, 56, a bartender who didn't want to use her last name, was worried about the outcome of the national election. "Everyone is frantic about it being a fair election because of the last time," she said. "In my heart of hearts, I believe (Trump) won the last one."
She doesn't trust a lot of media outlets that report the contrary.
"If you want to listen to CNN, you aren't going to get straight news," she said.
Instead, she tunes into the Bott Radio Network, which has a lot of Christian talk radio programs on 91.5 FM.
Then there was Sharron Matthews, 74, a retired Xerox employee from Maryland Heights, who described Trump as a "real piece of work."
"I might need therapy if he wins," she said.
She said she wasn't just voting against Trump.
"I believe in Kamala Harris," she said. — Jesse Bogan
St. Charles party leaders enjoy seeing crowds
St. Charles Republican and Democratic party leaders can agree on one thing — they like seeing crowds of people at polling places.
The two men — Donald Looney, representing the local Democratic Party, and Bob Eno, representing the local Republican Party — don't agree on what the crowds might mean.
"Record turnout, or at least extremely high turnout tends to favor Democratic candidates or candidates that are more progressive. Based on what we are seeing, we are waiting with bated breath for election night," Looney said.
Meanwhile, Eno said he stopped drawing conclusions based on lines on Election Day years ago.
"When I look at those lines they look like normal, everyday people who just want to vote and to have their voice heard," Eno said. "I don't know what the crowds mean."
Looney said Democrats are keeping a close eye on a number of races and will be looking at early returns for House District 104, House District 105, and House District 106 to gauge just how big of a night their candidates might have. He said eyes will also be on returns in Senate District 23.
Democrats are hosting a watch party at the Firefighters Union Hall, 115 McMenamy Road, in St. Peters.
Eno said Republicans won't be looking for any clues in early election returns.
"I don't expect any early returns to tell us much unless it is a landslide, and I doubt that there will be any landslides tonight," Eno said.
He said party leaders were not worried by the rainy weather on Election Day.
"Given the number of controversial ballot issues and candidates, we knew there was very little that was going to keep voters from making their way to the polls."
Eno said he believes voters are highly motivated, and that many St. Charles County voters would trek to the polls once the rain clouds passed.
Eno's predictions proved true — at least in St. Charles city.
There was a line of more than 70 people at St. Charles First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in New Town shortly after 3:15 p.m. Officials at St. John United Church of Christ in St. Charles city said that crowds had been steady all day, but the pace was picking up after 3 p.m.
The pace was somewhat slower at St. Charles Presbyterian Church, where there was no line of waiting voters and most were voting in 10 minutes or less.
"It is exciting to see people vote — that's what it is all about," Eno said.
Back at the St. Charles County Election Authority Office in St. Peters, election workers started Tuesday afternoon the process of scanning absentee ballots sent by mail and cast from American citizens living overseas.
Bahr said many of the overseas ballots came from military personnel, their spouses, their adult children, and from federal government employees living abroad.
"(The ballots) came from all around the globe," Bahr said Tuesday afternoon.
These absentee votes will be combined with the ballots cast during the no-excuse absentee voting period that ended Monday.
Approximately 25% of the county's registered voters voted early this year.
Workers are using a scanner that can scan up to 3,100 ballots per hour, reading both sides of the ballot.
The machine doesn't show the results of the ballots as they are scanned, Bahr said.
"We won't see the results until this process of scanning ballots is completed, and we transfer the results into the tabulation laptop," Bahr said. Those results won't become public until after polls close at 7 p.m. — Ethan Colbert
At Lambert airport, the National Weather Service said 3.6 inches of rain had fallen between midnight and 8 a.m. Rains should move out of the St. Louis area by the afternoon.
Flooding causes St. Louis County election officials to pivot
Because of floodwater remaining in the parking lot of the Deer Creek shopping center in Maplewood, St. Louis County election officials no longer plan to use that site as one of 10 "turn-in locations" where sealed bags containing ballots and other material will be brought from polling places Tuesday evening. The bags will then be taken from the turn-in locations to Election Board offices in St. Ann for vote tabulating. Rick Stream, the county's Republican director of elections, said the Deer Creek center lot will be replaced by a lot near the Maplewood City Hall. — Mark Schlinkmann
Voter turnout in St. Louis County could exceed 75%
Election Day 2024 has finally arrived, and authorities report high turnout as Missourians exercise their right to vote on important races and ...More than 181,000 people had voted Tuesday at St. Louis County polling places by 2:40 p.m., the county Election Board reported. When added to about 234,000 people who voted absentee in person before Election Day, the total is now over 415,000, said Rick Stream, the board's Republican director. As of now, about 62.5% of the county's registered voters have cast ballots. When all is said and done, Stream said, he believes the county will come in at 75% to 79%. — Mark Schlinkmann
'I'm ready to turn the page'
Susan, a 77-year-old Maplewood resident who declined to give her last name, cast her vote for Amendment 3 to legalize abortion in Missouri.
"I lived through too many years when you couldn't get an abortion not to vote for it," she said.
It was equally important for Caroline Walters, 70, who had also just voted at Maplewood City Hall.
"For my daughters to have less rights than I had, not happening," she said.
She said her children were struggling to afford to buy homes in the current housing market, and she said Kamala Harris was more likely to help people like them. She was hopeful Harris would prevail.
"I'm excited," Walters said. "I'm ready to turn the page. I'm tired of the carnivals." — Jacob Barker
If Trump would 'just shut up sometimes he'd be easier to support'
Jon Solomon voted without any wait at Chesterfield City Hall.
"It's a big election, but at the same time people need to be nicer to each other," said Solomon, 25, who has a vintage clothing business. "No matter who wins, I feel like there is going to be an uproar."
As for Solomon, of Wildwood, he said he voted for Trump because he thinks Trump will do a better job at enforcing legal immigration and keeping consumer prices lower.
"I don't love him, but I think he's a better candidate. If he would just shut up sometimes he'd be easier to support." — Jesse Bogan
Jefferson County on pace to exceed previous voter turnout
Election day turnout is now at 30% in Jefferson County. This means roughly 50,000 people have voted on Election Day in Jefferson County.
County clerk Jeannie Goff says voting is occurring at a steady pace at polling places throughout the county, but the pace is expected to pick up later today as residents get off from work.
Jefferson County, which typically sees turnout at about 72%, is on pace to exceed that threshold, Goff said.
"We could be as high as 80% turnout, but I don't think we will go beyond that," Goff said. "I think we are definitely going to end up in the mid-to-high 70s for turnout in this election." — Ethan Colbert
Small voting lines in St. Louis County
There wasn't much of a lunch rush in St. Louis County. By 1 p.m., only four polling places had more than 25 people in line, according to the Post-Dispatch's wait time tracker .
At King of Kings Church in Chesterfield, election workers said they had a rush in the morning but the rest of the day had been steady. There were no lines there or at River Bend Elementary a couple minutes away.
Carlos Marroquin and Ashlee Smith, both U.S. Army veterans, were two of only a handful of voters at the school around lunch time. They said veteran support was a big issue for them.
"I feel like Trump has definitely always had good policy towards us," Marroquin said.
In Jefferson County, over half of the voters have already cast ballots as of noon on Election Day, according to Jefferson County Clerk Jeannie Goff.
This includes the 41,000 people, or 25% of registered voters, who voted absentee by mailing their ballot to the elections office or voted in-person at the courthouse.
The county has 167,000 registered voters, Goff said. — Monica Obradovic and Ethan Colbert
Voters offer perspective on amendments
Aimee James of Tower Grove South braved the rain to cast her vote in favor of Amendment 3, which would restore access to abortion in Missouri.
"That would have gotten me out in any kind of weather," she said.
She's hopeful for Democrats and would "love" to see Crystal Quade elected as the state's first female governor. While early voting was available for weeks, she said she still enjoys the feel of election day.
"I like to come out and be part of the community," James said.
Another woman, a 30-year-old Tower Grove resident who declined to give her name, said she came out to "keep that psycho Trump out of office and restore women's rights," referring to Amendment 3.
Kaylen Mattie, a 30-year-old teacher in St. Charles County who lives in south St. Louis, said she was wanted to repeal the state's abortion ban and was also worried about another Trump presidency.
"I think there's even more at stake this time around," she said.
Megan Purcell, a 52-year-old former nurse in Tower Grove South who described herself as a "born-again" Christian, said she didn't vote for any presidential candidate, writing in Jesus instead. But she voted against Amendment 3.
"I've had an abortion and it ruined my life," she said.
But a 69-year-old resident of the neighborhood, who only gave his first name, Dean, said he was voting for Amendment 3 despite being a Republican who voted for Trump.
"I'm not necessarily an abortion supporter, but I have to support people's rights to control their bodies," he said.
Dawn Stavenau, a 45-year-old stay-at-home mom, said the abortion amendment was a big motivator for her. She also planned to vote against Amendment 2, which would legalize sports betting in Missouri.
"St. Louis is already a drinking city," Stavenau said. "We don't need to make it a drinking and betting city."
While he knows his votes for Democrats are often overwhelmed by the state's Republican rural voters, Jim Clark, a 56-year-old English teacher and dog walker, said he thought Amendment 3 would pass even in Republican-dominated Missouri. A similar measure passed in Kansas, another conservative state, he pointed out. But he voted against legalizing sports betting, explaining that he had family and friends with unhealthy gambling habits.
"It's stupid to make it that easy," Clark said.
He was "cautiously optimistic" that Harris would defeat Trump nationally, pointing to a comedian's off-color joke about Puerto Rico at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally as a potential motivator for Puerto Ricans in the likely tipping point state of Pennsylvania.
"I think it's going to be a good day," Clark said. — Jacob Barker
More than half of St. Charles County voters have cast their ballots
St. Charles County election authority director Kurt Bahr said more than half of the county's 300,000 registered voters have already cast ballots either in-person or during the absentee voting period.
Turnout on Election Day is now at 27%, Bahr said. The county had 25% turnout during the early voting period.
Bahr said he expects polling places to be busiest over the noon hour. Historically, the county also saw a rush of voters coming to polling places after 5 p.m. and just before polls close at 7 p.m.
"That was the case in the past, pre-COVID," Bahr said. "Now, with more people working from home, and more people retired, we are seeing busier polling places earlier in the day."
The county has 104 polling sites across the county, including at Daniel Boone Elementary in New Melle.
It is one a handful of polling sites that have Election Day Challengers and the only one so far that has had a formal challenge, Bahr said.
"The challenger there wanted to use their ID to scan themselves in using the iPad, because they wanted to see how it would appear for voters," Bahr said. The head election judge denied the challenger's request, but called Bahr to allow him to have final say. Bahr said he dismissed the challenge.
"Some people think that the iPads are inherently flawed, so they are always looking for some reason to discredit them," he said.
According to Bahr, the job of the Election Day Challenger is "to watch for violations of state law or perceived violations of state law. It is not to test the system."
Democrats and Republicans have Election Challengers at polling places throughout St. Charles County, including voting sites in St. Charles city, Wentzville, St. Peters O'Fallon, Flint Hill, Lake Saint Louis and New Melle.
Lines were short or nonexistent on the eastern edge of St. Charles County. At the Family Arena, a steady stream of voters trickled in and out, each departing within five to 10 minutes of arriving.
Nancy Slusarski had been standing outside the arena under an umbrella for about an hour with a sign for Elad Gross, a Democratic candidate for Missouri Attorney General. She also supported the Harris-Walz ticket.
"I'm the mother of a transgender child, so that's a pretty key issue for me; that my child and other LGBTQ members are safe and have the same rights as everyone else," Slusarski said.
About three miles away, Aaron Fennell sauntered out of Hope Lutheran Church after voting Republican across the board.
The past four years have been tough for his family and business, he said. They're spending hundreds more on groceries this week. Their electric bills are "through the roof." He's a project manager for a local construction company, and he said his income has been cut by about 35% as sales have plummeted. He blames the Biden administration. — Ethan Colbert and Monica Obradovic
MetroBus routes resume
Metro Transit says "the majority of bus service" on the 13 routes affected by flash flooding had been restored by noon but that some were still experiencing only limited service. Water has now receded on Brentwood Boulevard, allowing buses parked at Metro's garage facility to get out on the streets.
By 9 a.m., Metro Transit had begun running limited service on 13 bus routes which had been temporarily halted due to flash flooding.
Affected routes are:
A Metro spokeswoman said flash flooding on Brentwood Boulevard continues to keep buses from leaving Metro's bus facility on Brentwood to get to those routes as they normally would. A Metro spokeswoman said some buses have been deployed from other areas to the affected routes. — Mark Schlinkmann
Turnout varies by location in St. Louis metro area
In north St. Louis, poll workers at Wohl Community Center are saying turnout is slow, but early voting was busy. About 3,000 voters were at the center yesterday, compared to 100 today by 11 a.m.
One of them was Tristan Boyd, 44.
"I am just hoping for the best outcome," Boyd said. "I really don't want Trump to win, only because of the racial tension he causes."
Her daughter, still too young to vote, foresees a no-win situation.
"I am scared of what will happen if either of them wins," said Amani Steed, 13. "If Kamala wins, Trump supporters are going to go haywire. And if Trump wins, women's rights are just gone."
In Franklin County, clerk Tim Baker said he is seeing "large numbers" at polling places across the county, including some polling places where they have already eclipsed 25 to 30% turnout for in-person voting.
"That is an indicator that we are having a very strong turnout," Baker said.
Estimated wait times at polling places are less than 10 minutes, and most have fewer than five or six people in line to vote.
That is a far cry from where lines were earlier in the day.
More than 200 people were in line to vote when polls opened, Baker said. Villa Ridge, which sits along Interstate 44, is a predominately rural polling place that is also one of the largest polling places in the county.
"We are seeing large numbers at our smaller-size polling places as well," he said.
Baker said 19% of the county's registered voters voted during the absentee period. — Jesse Bogan and Ethan Colbert
Another polling location in St. Louis County has water leak, voting unaffected
Rick Stream, Republican director of elections for St. Louis County, said rain water got into the polling place at a VFW post on Lemay Ferry Road in the Oakville area early Tuesday morning. But he said poll workers arriving at 5 a.m. — an hour before voting started — moved voting equipment to an unaffected part of the room and voting there took place as planned. — Mark Schlinkmann
St. Louis County has seen over 100,000 voters this morning
In St. Louis County, 111,810 people had voted at the polls by 10:30 a.m. This total does not include early voting. Rick Stream, the county's Republican director of elections, said that's "pretty much on pace" with what he expected. The length of lines has varied from polling place to polling place. — Mark Schlinkmann
Check wait times for lines at St. Louis city and St. Louis county polling places here.
St. Louis City official says voter turnout on track with 2020 levels
In St. Louis city, Gary Stoff, Republican director of the St. Louis Board of Elections, said a power outage in the neighborhood closed one polling place, Christ Southern Missionary Baptist Church, on Page Boulevard. Voters were sent to nearby locations.
Stoff said the city is expecting this election to be comparable to the 2020 levels, at 66% voter turnout.
"I think we're going to approach that, and maybe even exceed that," Stoff said. "The voting has been steady despite the rain."
He said the forecast of clearing skies by the afternoon might encourage more people to vote. They can cast a ballot as long as they are in line by 7 p.m., he said. — Kim Bell
More information on flooding can be found here .
Bellefontaine Neighbors polling location remains without power
Holy Name Community Center polling location in Bellefontaine Neighbors remains without power. Ballot machines have been running on batteries since 6 a.m.
"Our voters have been more than patient and understanding," said Shene't Paige, 33, Republican manager. "No one has turned around because of it."
Jalisa Wilhite, a voter at the Bellefontaine Neighbors location, showed up with her 1-year-old son in a stroller.
"We had to fight for these rights to vote," Wilhite said. "I am glad to be able to be a part and participate in today's world."
At 9:50 a.m., the St. Louis County Election Board delivered a large gas-powered generator borrowed from the county to help run the machines.
Just over 200 voters have cast their ballot at Holy Name. — Reporting from Jesse Bogan
More information on flooding can be found here .
Short voting lines in St. Louis metro area
Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary School may not have enough privacy voting screens for the amount of people voting, but it does have a short wait time. About 40 people were voting when the Post-Dispatch was there with about 20 still in line. Voters found space available at open tables to cast their ballot, and the process from start to finish took about 15 minutes.
There are no lines at the Washington Public Library, one of four polling places in Franklin County's largest city. More than 425 people had already voted in-person as of 9:15 a.m. Election workers say that two women were standing in line to vote here at 5 a.m. even though polls didn't open for another hour because they were that eager to vote.
So far the longest wait time here for voters to cast their ballots was 30 minutes, one election official said. —Ethan Colbert
St. Charles County off to 'healthy start,' polling locations unaffected by flooding
St. Charles County Election Authority Kurt Bahr said there have been no delays in voting in St. Charles County due to the rain or flash flooding.
"All of my polling places are open and all are processing voters," Bahr said. He said Election Day turnout has already eclipsed 10.5% and that the county ultimately had 25% turnout during the no-excuse early voting period and from voters mailing in their ballot.
"That's a pretty healthy start for the day," he said.
Bahr said there was about an hour-long delay at two polling places in St. Charles County — Oakridge Baptist Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St. Peters — when poll workers arrived and realized they had wrong voting cabinets for the polling place. The cabinets had been delivered incorrectly by a third-party delivery company, but have been switched and voters are casting ballots.
Bahr says that Oakridge Baptist Church has 3,800 voters assigned to it, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has about 2,000 voters assigned to it.
"We don't know how many voters were affected, it is hard to know that kind of thing," Bahr said. Voters at the polling places were encouraged to cast their ballot at the St. Charles County Election Authority office, which is about four miles away from both polling places.
"These are two of our smaller precincts, and they are relatively close to one another so we were able to get a team out there to correct the situation fairly quickly," Bahr said. The two precincts are located two-tenths of a mile away from one another in St. Peters, according to maps.
Approximately 31,000 people have already voted today. Turnout is now at 11.5 percent countywide for Election Day. — Ethan Colbert
Jefferson County sheriffs say they are being accused of voter suppression
As roads flood and police direct traffic away from closures, Jefferson County Sheriff's office says drivers are yelling at deputies, suggesting that police were trying to suppress the vote.
"Nothing could be further from the truth," the Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. "We are trying to keep everyone updated on road closures so you can go around and vote."
Find more flooding updates here.
St. Louis County polling location loses power
St. Louis County Democratic Director of Elections Eric Fey says a Bellefontaine Neighbors polling place lost power today after electrical equipment flooded. The election there is being run on generators.
Rains drench St. Louis region, flooding some roads
After rain through Monday, and storms overnight, several roads in the area were flooded Tuesday morning. Navigate traffic in the St. Louis area here.
MetroBus had to temporarily halt service on several routes:
The 70 Grand route is MetroBus' biggest route, serving about 80,000 riders a month.
The ride service Lyft is offering a 50% discount, up to $10, on rides to the polls. The code VOTE24 must be used.
Uber is also offering a 50% discount on rides to the polls, again capped at $10.
The A. Philip Randolph Institute is offering free rides to the polls in St. Louis and St. Louis County; call 314-562-0411 to request a ride.
Before polls open, voters huddle in rain
As a steady rain fell an hour before the polls opened, 30 people were in line outside Grant's View Branch library in St. Louis County. The earliest ones huddled beneath an overhang to stay dry.
Poll hours, candidates and issues on the Election Day ballot
Election officials expect the overall turnout for Tuesday's presidential vote to hit 73% across Missouri — and possibly higher in some parts of the St. Louis area. The polls in Missouri and Illinois will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The estimates include those who already have cast absentee ballots, including thousands who streamed into polling places Monday on the last day of the state's early voting period that began two weeks ago.
In addition to choosing a new president, voters are deciding the winner of a big-spending U.S. Senate race between Josh Hawley and Lucas Kunce, picking a new governor (Mike Kehoe vs. Crystal Quade) and filling four other statewide posts.
There also are six statewide ballot issues, with the most campaign spending on measures to allow abortion , legalize sports betting and establish a new casino in the Lake of the Ozarks area . Another measure calls for increasing the state minimum wage .
Various U.S. House and state legislative races also are on the ballot.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's office said the expected 73% statewide turnout would exceed the percentages for the last two presidential elections. About 70% of Missouri's registered voters took part in 2020 and nearly 67% in 2016.
In St. Louis County, Missouri's most populous county, election officials were predicting a total of 75% to 79%.
Rick Stream, one of the county's two election directors, said that would come close to the all-time high percentage for the county of 79.3% four years ago.
St. Charles County's election director, Kurt Bahr, on Monday predicted a total turnout of 75%, close to the November 2020 turnout of 76%.
As for early voting, which was begun by the Missouri Legislature in 2022, Stream said more than 12,100 people already had cast ballots on Monday by 1 p.m. That brought the county total for this election to more than 212,000, he said.
Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
