St. Charles County Official Voter Guide Published

Voters wanting to do their homework before they head to the polls Aug. 4 can now dig into the voter guide compiled by the St. Charles County Election Authority. 

“This ballot has a myriad of candidates and issues,” says Election Director Kurt Bahr. “We want everyone to know the ballot when they vote.”

The voter guide for each political party contains responses from candidates, as well as the full ballot language approved by the Missouri Secretary of State. 

“Every election, we get calls from voters wanting to know who’s who and what’s what,” Bahr says. “But we are very limited on what we are allowed to answer. This is a way for us to help voters get their research started and provide a service the people truly want."

Each candidate on the Aug. 4 primary ballot was given the opportunity to submit a biography and goals to inform voters. 

"We wanted to leave the questions broad so candidates could tell us who they are and why they're running. We also gave them a lot more space than comparable surveys done by partisan groups," Bahr says. 

The Aug. 4 primary is projected to draw 40% of registered voters in St. Charles County, compared to 25% for a typical August primary here, Bahr says.

“The number-one thing that will attract people to the polls is a pocketbook issue,” Bahr says. “It’s Amendment 5, a statewide ballot proposal that would phase out the state income tax and make changes to other forms of taxation.”

Bahr says voters are also energized by local political races. 

The last time a 40% voter turnout happened here in an August primary was in 2018, when a contentious labor issue, Right to Work, was on the ballot. 

To view the Voter Guide for the Aug. 4 Primary, visit sccmo.org/VoterGuide.