The St. Louis County Elections: What Went Wrong?
As chairman of the Senate committee that is responsible for considering bills and matters relating to election law, any breakdown in the election process is especially concerning. The 20th District may be more than 200 miles away from St. Louis County, but the widespread ballot issues that unfolded there during the course of Tuesday’s municipal elections are no less troubling.
The situation began to go downhill shortly after the polls opened at 6 a.m., when some of the earliest voters were turned away because their polling place had insufficient or invalid paper ballots. This same pattern continued throughout the day, with voters and candidates growing increasingly frustrated.
In total, residents in more than 60 precincts were unable to cast their ballots. Although the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis ordered the 24 affected polling locations to remain open for two extra hours, some locations had already closed by the time word spread. In response, both the Secretary of State’s office and the St. Louis City Council have announced separate investigations.
This is not the first time election mishaps have occurred in St. Louis County, but I certainly hope it is the last. Whether by implementing new policies and procedures, cleaning house or simply taking greater care, the St. Louis County Board of Elections must be held accountable and improve where necessary. Both candidates and the citizens who vote for them deserve to have faith in the voting process. In fact, they must have faith in the process, or the entire system falls apart.
As for the possibility of a legislative response, anything right now would simply be reactionary. The most prudent course of action is to wait and see what findings the investigations yield and then go from there. Although it in no way diminishes the severity of what has transpired, Tuesday’s voting debacle may simply be the result of bad planning, and we can’t legislate bad planning or ever fully eliminate human error.
During my time in the Legislature, I have often heard people remark how elected officials don’t really care about the inner workings of the election process or the finer details of a voting rights bill, but their claim couldn’t be further from the truth. The fundamental right to vote is the cornerstone of any democratic society. It is enshrined in our Constitution, and it must be preserved with absolute integrity. This means having a reliable election process that works every time and ensuring that not only is every citizen allowed to vote, but also that every vote is an honest vote.
If you have any questions or comments about this or any other matter regarding your state government, please feel free to contact me at (573) 751-1503; you are also welcome to e-mail me at jay.wasson@senate.mo.gov.
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