By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The Missouri Secretary of State's office is running newspaper ads that remind people to register to vote. But the ads do not include any picture of Secretary Matt Blunt.
Blunt got some criticism last month for running ads just before the primary election, telling people to vote.
Blunt is the state's chief elections officer but he's also running for governor. The ads last month included his picture.
Critics likened them to taxpayer-funded campaign ads.
But a spokesman for Blunt said the ads were get-out-the-vote efforts paid for with money from Washington. The spokesman said Blunt's image personalized that effort, noting the governor's picture is on highway maps, even though the governor isn't in charge of highways.
The new ads only have a picture of a button with the word VOTE on it. They remind people that they must register by next Wednesday (Oct. 6) to be eligible to vote in the November election.