Curbside voting to be available in Cape County before Election Day

Physically disabled voters or those with some other form of limited mobility will be able to take advantage of curbside voting the week before Election Day, Nov. 3, in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said Thursday.

The curbside option, which has long been available on Election Day itself, is now being offered, weather permitting, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 to 30 at the county administration building, 1 Barton Square in Jackson and at Cape Girardeau’s Osage Centre, 1625 North Kingshighway.

“A voter can drive up to the outdoor tent in either location, ring the bell and election judges will come out,” said Summers, who has been the county’s election authority since 2007.

To Summers’ knowledge, this is the first time Cape Girardeau County has ever offered a weeklong curbside voting event before Election Day.

A person voting traditional absentee may also dropoff a ballot curbside but there are restrictions.

“If you drop off an absentee ballot already in your possession, you must produce a form of identification,” said Summers, who added the I.D. could be a driver’s license, a utility payment stub, or some other acceptable verifiable way of establishing identity.

“By law, voters can return absentee ballots themselves or they can be brought back by a relative within the second degree,” which Summers explained can be a spouse, a sibling, a parent, a child, a grandparent or a grandchild.

“What we don’t want to have happen is a next-door neighbor offering to drop off a ballot out of convenience,” said Summers, adding her office has a fiduciary duty to be able to verify a legitimate ballot return.

A true mail-in ballot — an option only available in Missouri due to the 2020 pandemic — cannot be returned, Summers said, by any other method than the U.S. mail.

A mailer on the way

Summers explained her office is sending via the U.S. Postal Service a flyer explaining the options for voting in the Nov, 3 election.

“I expect this mailer to be in the hands of county voters as early as Saturday,” Summers said.

Voting to-date

As of Thursday morning, 3,800 eligible county residents have already voted, Summers said.

“They’ve either already voted in person at Osage Centre or at Barton Square or they have returned a ballot to our office,” she added.

“Just after the August primary, I thought about 9,000 people would vote before Election Day,” Summers said, “and we’re on track for at least that number.”

Voter beware

Summers said other states have different rules regarding voting and she is sympathetic if there is confusion.

If a voter is unsure how to vote in this unusual COVID-19 environment, the county clerk’s advice is straightforward.

“If a voter has a question or a concern, call me,” said Summers, who may be reached at her office, (573) 243-3547.