Local News

ST. CHARLES COUNTY URGES VOTERS TO KEEP BALLOTS DRY ON RAINY ELECTION DAY

November 2, 2026

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — With rain in the Election Day forecast, county elections officials are asking voters to keep wet umbrellas off voting tables and protect their paper ballots from moisture Tuesday, November 3.

Director of Elections Kurt Bahr says wet paper can swell and be rejected by ballot-scanning equipment until it dries. Voters who notice moisture on a ballot should ask an election judge for a replacement rather than trying to submit the damaged sheet.

The county reported that more than 42,000 people, about 14 percent of its roughly 300,000 registered voters, had already cast ballots during absentee voting. Those figures describe voting completed before Election Day.

Officials say 105 polling places will be ready to open at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Residents should confirm their assigned voting location before leaving home and keep wet umbrellas on the floor, away from the tabletop where they mark their ballots.