Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says he expects about a 70% voter turnout for the general election. In 2016, Missouri had about a 67% voter turnout.
Local election authorities project their jurisdiction’s voter turnout and then Ashcroft’s office compiles a statewide estimate.
And this year, at best, it’s going to be a guess because we’ve never had a year like 2020 in any of our lifetimes,” says Ashcroft.
He thinks about 15% to 20% of Missouri voters have already voted. Ashcroft, a Republican, says the state’s local election authorities have received more than 628,000 absentee and mail-in ballots combined so far. Due to the pandemic, mail-in ballots are being offered this year only.
“I’m hoping, fingers crossed, that because of the changes in the law and because of all the information we’ve put out there, we will see a resounding increase in voter turnout. But, I’ve been disappointed before when I’ve thought that,” says Ashcroft.
According to the Secretary of State’s website, about 282,000 Missouri absentee ballots were counted in 2016.
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