What You Need To Know About Nontraditional Voting Methods

By Emily Woodbury

Published Oct. 5, 2020 at 4:33 p.m. CDT

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has approved a petition to allow Missouri voters to decide whether to expand Medicaid — Missouri voters should send ballots to their county clerk or board of elections office no later than Oct. 27 if they want their ballots to count. In Illinois, vote by mail applications can be submitted 90 days through 5 days prior to the election.

The 2020 presidential election is less than a month away, and St. Louis Public Radio correspondent Jason Rosenbaum estimates that an unprecedented number of people will vote with absentee or mail-in ballots this year, due to the pandemic.

On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, Rosenbaum talked with host Sarah Fenske about the differences between absentee and mail-in voting, the deadlines to apply for either method and why sending materials ASAP is the best way to make sure that your ballot counts.

You can find more information on nontraditional voting here.

Are you planning to vote in person on Election Day, or will you be voting in advance via a mail-in or absentee ballot? How did you come to that decision? Send an email to talk@stlpublicradio.org or share your thoughts via our St. Louis on the Air Facebook group and help inform our coverage.

“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

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