Early Voting

‘It gave us information that we couldn’t have received any other way’: Local officials worry about Election Day problems, especially for voters who have recently moved.

Officials in St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County said Monday that voters have embraced the two-week period in which they can cast a ballot at a designated polling place for any reason.

In the past, residents needed to submit an application for a mail-in ballot for each individual election, but now they avoid that by filing an application for permanent vote-by-mail status with their local election authority.

During a surge of early votes in the November election, St. Charles County rejected ballots at twice the statewide average. But Missouri's early voting rejection rate overall went down this past election.

Whether they'll be able to hinges greatly on where they live and what changes, if any, local lawmakers are willing to make.

Earlier this month, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Missouri’s law requiring absentee and mail-in ballots to be notarized.

Starting Monday, local voting rights groups will host a virtual training series to teach volunteers how to report problems at the polls, on social media and through a legal hotline.

Election authorities are busy processing those absentee and mail-in ballots and preparing for what could be record-breaking voter turnout. More than 100,000 Missouri voters have already cast a ballot through early voting.

As the clock winds down to the general election, churches in the region are working to make the voting process easier.

As a mother, Katy Fechter said she makes it a point to bring her kids to the polls every election she votes in.But this year, Fechter said, she may need…