Updated with new comments - The deadline to register to vote for Missouri’s Aug. 2 primary election is Wednesday, July 6.
You can register in person at your city or county board of election office, a local library or the Department of Motor Vehicles. To register online, submit your application through the Missouri Secretary of State’s website GoVoteMissouri.com by 5 p.m.
Missouri does not allow same-day registration to vote.
To be safe, register in person
If you want to mail your registration application, it must be postmarked by July 6. However, St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioner Mary Wheeler-Jones says getting to the post office late Wednesday afternoon is risky.
At this point, Wheeler-Jones recommends not relying on mail.
“If you want to be ready to vote for August you should do it in person or drop it off. If you come into any election board office, we will ask you for some identification and register you on the spot,” said Wheeler-Jones.
Any official ID will do — it doesn’t have to be a photo ID — and you can register at your local election board, public library or Department of Motor Vehicles.
Update those addresses
If you want to vote in the August election you have to have your registration up-to-date.
That means every voter who has changed their address since the last time they voted — even moving a few blocks within the city — is required to register at their current home.
“Some folks, when they move, don’t realize that by moving they may have to go to a different polling place. They maybe stand in line for a while and then they find out that they may have to go to a different place,” said Election Commissioner Gary Stoff Jr.
Stoff says voters can help themselves and save time at the polls by verifying their information in advance.
You can check that you are registered accurately or find your polling place by calling your local board of election or visiting its website.
Where to register
Visit a public library, the Department of Revenue office, or your local board of election for help registering.
The St. Louis election commissions are looking for poll workers. Those who are interested in any jurisdiction can find an application on the local election authority's website.
St. Louis County Board of Election
State elections matter, too
Wheeler-Jones says she hopes voters will remember the state primary in August and not overlook it in their excitement for the November presidential contest.
“People don’t seem to understand that their local politics are just as important as their federal politics. You can’t call the president of the United States and say, this is going on in my neighborhood. You can call your local politician,” said Wheeler-Jones.
This upcoming election, parties will decide their candidates for statewide office, Congress and local offices.
