Early voting in St. Charles County is continuing as scheduled while a court weighs a lawsuit filed by a Republican committeeman.
In the suit filed Wednesday in St. Charles Circuit Court, Travis Heins alleges that county Elections Director Kurt Bahr improperly prevented him from acting as a poll watcher or challenger at in-person early voting locations. Bahr said Missouri law only allows watchers and challengers to observe on Election Day when ballots are counted.
Judge Daniel Pelikan will hear Hein’s request for an emergency injunction barring the county from conducting early voting without poll watchers at 9 a.m. Friday. Bahr, who expects the judge to clarify what the law requires, said the county will comply with the court decision.
“What it won't be is the stopping of the polls,” Bahr said. “That is not a plausible outcome of this.”
But at a voting site in St. Peters, some people in line to cast their ballots Thursday said they came because they were unsure whether the court would allow early voting to continue.
Kevin Jager, of St. Peters, planned to vote on Election Day, hoping to go with his son, who will be casting his first ballot this year. After learning of the lawsuit, he said he decided to vote early instead.
“I heard about this situation that’s happening in St. Charles County and kind of feared that I would not be able to vote tomorrow or anytime before Election Day if I didn’t show up today,” Jager said.
Schoolteacher Lisa Patterson said she also was worried about how the legal challenge would affect her.
“I didn’t know if it was somebody’s attempt to sabotage our right to vote,” Patterson said.
Poll watchers are people who observe the election process. They may be members of a political party or a nonpartisan group.
Kim Turner, who previously served as a poll watcher for the Democratic Party, said she was surprised the county did not have poll watchers present for early voting. The Cave Springs resident said she hopes the court ruling will offer clarity on the rules for poll watchers.
“People think that because it was a Republican that challenged that it's just something that Republicans do and not both parties having the right to [poll watch],” Turner said.
Turner said she is confident in the county’s election process but wants the county to expand early voting sites for future elections.
The number of early voters in St. Charles County this year is double that of 2020. More than 5,000 voters have cast ballots each day since early voting began on Oct. 22.
There will be 104 polling locations available across the county on Tuesday. To find your polling place and precinct, visit the St. Charles County website or the Missouri secretary of state site.
On Election Day, Nov. 5, voters can cast their ballots at their assigned polling place from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
