ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – There is a surge of early voters in the St. Louis area for the November 2024 general election.
That includes St. Charles County, where voters are dealing with long lines and traffic congestion, prompting election authorities to make significant changes to accommodate the larger-than-expected high turnout.
There were long lines for early voters in St. Charles County all day Wednesday. Election officials say the turnout is historic, after a record in voter registration prior to the general election.
View wait times for polling places in St. Louis County here
“Every day there was a quiet percentage of voters until the two-week early voting period started,” said Kurt Bahr, director of the St. Charles County Election Authority. “At that point we saw a huge surge of voters at the election office and satellite location in Wentzville.”
Election officials will add more parking at the main absentee location in Wentzville and expand capacity at the single satellite voting location.
The workforce has been expanded by 60%. The check-in stations have been increased by 50%. The number of voting printers has doubled.
“Longer voting times have been added, and people can now vote on the Saturday before the election,” Bahr said. “The numbers were approaching 4,000 plus voters (per day). Since then, we’ve been seeing about 5,000 voters a day. This is double what we expected.”
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This is the first presidential election where no-excuse voting is part of the process in Missouri. FOX 2 spoke with some early voters in St. Charles County who are glad they had the chance to vote early.
“We came out early to vote because (of) long lines. We are trying to stay ahead of the curve and just want to make sure my vote is counted,” said Mark Wheeler.
“I took time off work to get some rest and relaxation, but I also thought it was a good time to do my civic duty and get out and vote,” said Kristine Laverge. “I got in line today.”
“It’s a beautiful day and I’m going on vacation,” Tim Krueger said. “Try to get out of the way, count votes and be done.”
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