VIENNA — Absentee voting began in Missouri on Sept. 24 for the Nov. 5 general election, and dozens of votes have already been cast in Maries County.

During the Sept. 30 Maries County commission meeting, Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre asked about the turnout up to that point.

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said people had been in her office every day to cast absentee votes. At the time of the meeting, 69 people had requested absentee ballots either in person or by mail. By Oct. 8, 109 ballots had been cast or requested.

Maries County voters will consider many different offices, amendments and propositions on the November ballot.

At the county level, three races are unopposed. Republican Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel and Democrat Assessor Dana Simmons are running to retain their seats. Democrat Amanda Sandbothe is running to succeed Public Administrator Carol Jo Schulte.

Incumbent Democrat Coroner David Martin faces a challenger in Republican Tom Tramel.

Sheriff Chris Heitman’s retirement leaves his seat open. Republican Mark Morgan and Independent Timothy “T.J.” Halle, Jr., are running to succeed him.

Fagre, the Democrat incumbent, will appear on the ballot despite sharing his intention to retire at the end of his current term. Alongside him will be two Independent candidates: Ryan Davis and Patrick Kleffner.

In the Missouri House of Representatives 143rd District, incumbent Republican Bennie Cook faces a rematch of the 2022 election against Democrat Bernadette Holzer.

The Advocate plans to publish interviews with the above candidates in contested races in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

November’s election will also see voters decide who will occupy terms in several state offices. The candidates to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Parson are Democrat Missouri House Minority Floor Leader Crystal Quade, Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Green Party candidate Paul Lehmann and Libertarian Bill Slantz.

The candidates to succeed Kehoe as Lieutenant Governor are Democrat Missouri Rep. Richard Brown, Republican David Wasinger, Green Party candidate Danielle Elliott and Libertarian Ken Iverson.

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey is running for office for the first time after Parson appointed him in 2023. He faces Democrat Elad Gross and Libertarian Ryan Munro.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is term-limited, so there is an open race to succeed him. The candidates are Democratic Missouri Rep. Barbara Phifer, Republican Missouri Senator Denny Hoskins, Green Party candidate Jerome H. Bauer and Libertarian Carl Herman Freese.

Incumbent Republican Treasurer Vivek Malek is running for office for the first time after Parson appointed him in 2023. He faces Democrat Mark Osmack, Green Party candidate Reagn Haase and Libertarian John Hartwig.

Voters will also determine whether the state retains nonpartisan Missouri Supreme Court Justices Kelly C. Broniec and Ginger Gooch and nonpartisan Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Judges Jennifer Growcock and Becky Borthwick.

Voters will also decide on three positions in Washington D.C.: Missouri’s 3rd U.S. House District, U.S. Senator and President of the United States.

Republican U.S. Rep. Blaine Luektemeyer announced his retirement earlier this year, which leaves his seat in the House of Representatives open. Democrat Bethany Mann, Republican Bob Onder, Green Party candidate William Hastings and Libertarian Jordan Rowden are running to replace him.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley faces four challengers in the Senate race: Democrat Lucas Kunce, Better Party candidate Jared Young, Green Party candidate Nathan Kline and Libertarian W.C. Young.

Many voters are already familiar with the presidential tickets of Democrats Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republicans former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance, but two more tickets will appear with them on the ballot: Green Party candidates Jill Stein and Butch Ware and Libertarians Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat.

Belle voters will decide on the city’s proposed Proposition A, a general-purpose half-cent sales tax that aldermen have said would go toward the city’s public safety budget.

Voters statewide will consider a different Proposition A that, if approved, would raise the state’s minimum wage to $13.75 per hour in 2025 and $15 per hour in 2026 while also requiring employers to provide one hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked.

Five constitutional amendments will also appear on the ballot. If approved by voters, each amendment would do the following:

• Amendment 2 would legalize and regulate sports wagering in Missouri.

• Amendment 3 would add to the Missouri Constitution a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” defined to include abortion and “all matters relating to reproductive health care,” among other provisions.

• Amendment 5 would allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue one additional gambling boat license to operate on a portion of the Osage River from the Missouri River to Bagnell Dam.

• Amendment 6 would define the administration of justice in the Missouri Constitution to include the levying of costs and fees to support the salaries and benefits of sheriffs, former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, former prosecuting attorneys, circuit attorneys and former circuit attorneys.

• Amendment 7 would add to the Missouri Constitution that only U.S. citizens 18 years or older can vote, as the law stands now, thereby prohibiting the state or local governments from allowing non-citizen voting in the future, establish that each voter has one vote per issue or open seat, prohibit ranked-choice voting and require plurality primary elections, where one winner advances to the general election.

More information about Missouri elections and upcoming ballot issues is available online at the Secretary of State’s website sos.mo.gov/elections.

IT Service

The county commission met with contracted IT service AQM Information Technology on Sept. 30 to discuss the county’s ongoing transition to the company’s service. The commission signed with AQM in April after the county’s previous IT manager’s immediate resignation in March.

During the meeting, the AQM employee said the company has done most of what it can do remotely to set up the county’s network the way it wants. He recommended some onsite work in the next few weeks to make some final changes and finish making the network state-of-the-art to reduce future maintenance calls and improve the county’s technology budget accuracy going forward. The county already has most of the necessary equipment; unlabeled cables will be the most likely cause for delays.

The commission agreed to have AQM do one or two weeks of onsite work depending on what the technicians found when they arrived at the courthouse. One of the projects the county will handle is fully transferring the county’s phone system from Mitel to RingCentral, a project that has been in limbo throughout this year. AQM planned to contact AT&T before making the switch to ensure that it would not affect 911 operations, which go through AT&T, unlike the rest of the courthouse phones.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman asked AQM to do an inventory of subscriptions and services the county pays for in relation to IT so the county can cancel any that may be redundant.

AQM started the onsite work earlier this week.

Bridges

Stratman asked Drewel at the Oct. 3 meeting if his district had any bridge projects in need of funding because more money for bridges would soon be available through the state. The county has had four bridges on its target list, including the bridge on Maries Road 213, which is in the acquisition stage.

Two of the bridges on the shortlist are in the Eastern District on Maries Road 405 and Maries Road 519. Drewel said that at a 20 percent match, the Maries Road 405 bridge project would be more feasible for the county. He said to prioritize that one while also keeping the Maries Road 519 bridge in mind if other funding opportunities appeared.

Addressing Misinformation

At the Sept. 30 meeting, Fagre said someone had mistakenly told him that the sheriff’s office had 27 full-time employees. He told the person that was not correct, and the person told him that they had seen all the photos of the employees in the Advocate’s “911 Salute” section of the Sept. 11 edition. Although the section showing the Maries County Sheriff’s Office, which appears on page 16, displays 23 photos and four staff not pictured, many of the staff included work part-time or in reserve.

During the Oct. 3 meeting, Stratman said someone had called him and asked him about rumors of the sheriff’s office giving away assets.

“I assured them that the sheriff’s office can’t,” he said. “It belongs to the county, and (the commission) has to sign off on the titles.”

Motor Vehicle Revenue

Treasurer Angie Stricklan shared the county’s motor vehicle revenue for May. Road One and Road Two share revenue 55 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

Motor fuel tax totaled $48,085.50 in September, which was a 7 percent increase from the previous September. Three-fourths of the way through the year, the county’s $372,289.03 in motor fuel tax revenue is about 78.1 percent of last year’s $476,457.98 total.

Motor vehicle tax revenue totaled $10,154.55 in September, which was a 4 percent increase from last September. At this point in the year, the county’s $86,961.41 in motor vehicle tax revenue is about 74.9 percent of last year’s $116,082.50 total.

Motor vehicle fees totaled $3,998.52 in September, which was a 12 percent decrease from last September. Three-quarters of the way through the year, the county’s $36,650.58 in revenue from motor vehicle fees is about 74.7 percent of last year’s $49,096.39 total.

Carpet Cleaning

The commission approved a $550 quote from the cleaning service You’ve Got It Maid to clean the courtroom carpet. The business handles regular cleaning at the courthouse though the deep cleaning on the carpets fell outside the normal responsibilities of the contract.