St. Louis County Provides Important Updates About Vote-By-Mail Deadlines

You're running out of time - but there are important options to consider. As the official decree continues to evolve and change, St. Louis County election officials are working hard to get the message out about options for these would-be vote-by-mail voters.

According to information presented by St. Louis County "there are approximately 10,000 ballots that have been sent out but not yet returned".  This poses a significant number and election officials are concerned that these individuals are still planning on sending those ballots in by mail - depending upon older, out-of-date information concerning deadlines.

Northlanders who have planned to vote by mail need to heed the recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on October 29, 2020.  That ruling overturned the state-approved consent decree that would have allowed any ballot postmarked on or before Election Day (November 3, 2020) to be counted as long as it was received by county election officials by November 10. At the present time, the court is requiring that any ballots received by mail after 8:00 PM on election night be separated.  The district court will decide if those ballots are to be counted towards the official results.

So what is a voter who requested a ballot - but not yet returned it - supposed to do?  St. Louis County recommends that they hand-deliver it to ensure that it is received in time to be counted properly.

If you've already mailed in your ballot and you're concerned about it's status, you can track it online.  Click here to check and see. If your ballot hasn't been documented yet, you can vote in person by absentee right up to 5:00 PM on Monday, November 2 or at your respective polling place on Election Day.