By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Absentee voting opened earlier this week in Missouri for voters ahead of the April 8th election.
Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey says the no excuse absentee period opened on Tuesday
"That's always two weeks prior to every election now, four weeks prior to that is you need to have an excuse to come in and vote," Baack-Garvey tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So that's what's happening now, we have no excuse, so anyone can come in and vote before election day."
Baack-Garvey says during this time anyone can come in and vote, such as those that maybe have trouble getting out to the polls.
"Somebody just has a hard time standing in line, like maybe they use a walker, they can come here to the office and vote in person, which is a quicker process, especially here with an April election, because the traffic is slower here at the courthouse," Baack-Garvey explains.
Baack-Garvey says though, even with those voting absentee, she's not expecting a very high voter turnout come April 8th
"It kind of frustrates me, because we have local elections here and that's what April is for, and we just don't see the turnout that you would normally see for a presidential election," Baack-Garvey says. "So, I would expect. at the highest, 20% turnout come Tuesday the 8th."
Absentee ballots can be cast anytime through April 7th at the Buchanan County Courthouse.
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