New voter ID cards to be mailed today for Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. — Some Sikeston residents will soon receive new voter identification cards in the mail.

Beverly Riley, deputy clerk for the Scott County Clerk's Office in Benton, Missouri, said not all Scott County registered voters will receive new voter ID cards. Only those in Sikeston whose voting precinct changed because of the latest census data will be mailed new cards, which will be needed for the Nov. 8 election, she said.

Riley said the county clerk's office will begin mailing the new cards today.

Every 10 years, after the federal census is complete, new ward and precinct boundary lines are drawn to reflect changes in population and to anticipate the needs of election systems for the next decade.

After the 2020 census was completed, the City of Sikeston made boundary changes to equal out the number of citizens represented in each ward.

During its Dec. 6 regular meeting, the Sikeston City Council approved the new ward boundaries for the city. The new boundary lines included placing all of New Madrid County voters in Ward 3, which eliminated the need for one New Madrid County poll.

With the new lines, all wards now have more than 4,000 voters and will be well within the legal differences as all wards must be within 10% of population of each other.

"After the City of Sikeston made changes, we had to also change the voting precinct lines," Riley said of the county clerk's office.

The voting location changes go into effect for the Nov. 8 election.

"Sikeston is the only city (in Scott County) that has done any ward changes, so that's why we will be mailing out new voter cards to anybody that their precinct is changing because of these changes," Riley said.

Riley reminded voters who receive new ID cards to check them closely to ensure information is correct and to also note their voting precinct for the upcoming election.

Voting locations in Sikeston: Ward 1, Trinity Gospel Church, 901 Davis Blvd.; Ward 2, First Christian Church, 1006 N. Main St.; Ward 3, First Assembly of God, 306 S. Kingshighway; Ward 4, CBC Family Life Outreach Center, 119 W. Trotter.