Numbers released by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office show 65.7 percent of registered voters across the state, or approximately 2.7 million people, turned out for this year's presidential election. That’s a decrease from the record number of participants in the 2008 presidential election, where a record 2.9 million voters (69.4 percent of registered voters) turned out.
In the August primary, Boone County had the lowest voter turnout rate of any county in Missouri at 16.7 percent.
Jonathan Dine, the Libertarian candidate for Missouri senator, took 6 percent of the vote in his race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and Republican congressman Todd Akin.
Missouri congressman Todd Akin called it his "six-second mistake." But his brief remark about "legitimate rape" was more than enough to sink his U.S. Senate campaign.
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill defeated her Republican challenger with nearly 55 percent of the vote to Akin's 39 percent in Tuesday's election. It was the largest margin of victory in a Missouri Senate race since 1994.
California voters defeated Proposition 37 [PDF] on Tuesday night, the ballot measure that would have required labels to indicate the presence of genetically modified foods. At the polls, 53 percent of Californians voted against the proposition, while 47 percent voted for it.
ByDaina Schnese and Andrew Yost and Lee Jian Chung and Kellie Stanfield and Katarina Sostaric and Wendy Mader and Ninh Pham and Courtney Doll and Mikkel Christiensen and Alexandra Olgin
KBIA reporting teams were out in full force throughout mid-Missouri and filed reports throughout the evening. KBIA News caught up with the following people at watch parties around the community:
Adair County residents will vote for a Second District County Commissioner Tuesday.
Larry Lee Smith is challenging the incumbent Mark Thompson in the election for Adair County Second District Commissioner.
Smith, who’s a farmer, said he decided to run for the position because he is concerned with road and bridge maintenance in Adair County.
“I don’t like to hear cutbacks on our road and bridge employees and on an hourly basis and so I don’t know what happened to their budget, how they failed to get something in?" Smith said. "I just want to scan that budget.”
Listen to Sen. Claire McCaskill chat about her bid to keep her Senate seat.
KBIA’s Kristofor Husted interviews Sen. Claire McCaskill, who is challenging Rep. Todd Akin to keep her seat in the U.S. Senate in the November 6 election.
In the interview (which took place before McCaskill’s mother died), the senator talks about the difference between her and Akin when it comes to women’s issues including equal pay for women and access to emergency contraception. She talks about what she would say to women who have backed Akin after his controversial comment on pregnancy and rape. McCaskill also discusses her plan to make sure small business continues to grow in the state and her stance on keeping federal loans and grants available to students who depend on them.
