COLUMBIA — Early voting in Boone, Cole and Callaway counties has neared total absentee votes for the 2022 midterms, according to county clerk records.
A week out from the Nov. 3, 2026, election, Boone County collected about 7,500 votes in-person and about 1,000 mail-in absentee ballots, compared to a total of 8,627 in the 2022 midterm election.
Missouri voting changed slightly in 2022 to allow a two-week period of no-excuse absentee voting, as well as the option of application-based absentee voting for up to six weeks before an election.
County clerks said voters might be more familiar with the system now that time has passed, which could drive more people to vote early by Nov. 3.
Cole County reported 2,413 ballots cast by the end of Monday and 3,146 in the November 2022 election.
In Callaway County, 915 ballots were collected as of Tuesday at 10 a.m., and 1,460 were cast in the 2022 election.
Callaway County Clerk Ronda Miller said the county is seeing about 150 voters a day.
In Randolph County, about 400 ballots have been cast, which Randolph County Clerk Terri Maddox said is about 5% of the county's registered voters.
Maddox said amendments have been pushing voters to the polls.
"We had people coming in to vote that we had to let them know that the ballot might change if they change the map," Maddox said. "And the reaction on most of them is, 'It doesn't matter; all we want to do is the amendments.'"
No-excuse absentee voting continues this week with polling locations available on the websites for the Boone County, Cole County and Callaway County clerks.
For more information on what on your ballot in Boone, Cole and Callaway counties, see the KOMU 8 Voters Guide.
This guide also includes Audrain, Chariton, Randolph, Cooper, Howard, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Maries, Montgomery and Osage counties.
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