Reaching the End of a Momentous Day

            Election Day has come and gone. It was a momentous occasion that set some remarkable records.

            The day saw election turnout at an all-time high in Adair County . Of the total 17,298 registered voters in the county, 11,999 cast ballots. That equates to an astounding 69.37 percent voter turnout. Voter turnout in 2004 nationally was 59.6 percent according to the Web site of the University of Oklahoma . In 2004 Adair County's turnout was 62.4 percent, according to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Web site.

            “For Adair County , as far as I could tell, [voter turnout] was larger than we have seen in the past,” County Clerk Sandy Collop said. “We’re just really anxious to get everything in here and see what percentage actually did [vote].”

            The only problem reported all day was a voter registration oddity: some students were unable to cast their vote because they were not said to be registered in Adair County . Some voter registration applications had not been turned into the proper places. The College Democrats, with other organizations, attempted to register students on campus during the fall.

            “We registered just over 1600 voters at Truman,” College Democrat president James Lang said. “We had a push to vote local. … I’m only aware of one [voter registration that was not turned in] right now. And that was someone who talked to me. We’re looking into it. As far as I know, those aren’t sitting someplace. We began the process understanding that we’d be undergoing a huge effort on campus. And I think when you put that power into volunteer’s hands, into anybody’s hands, there’s a risk of misplacing something, losing something. … I haven’t heard any widespread issues of people registering with us and not being able to vote today.”

            The people who found themselves unable to vote today were left with two choices: Not vote, or cast a provisional ballot.

            “A provisional ballot is a ballot that you can vote, if you so desire, but nine times out of 10, it will not be counted if you are not registered in this county,” Collop said. “If you vote at the polls, and you tell us that you are registered here but for some reason we are unable to find you anywhere… then we have you vote provisionally. Then when things kind of slow down a little bit, and we have a chance to go through those provisional ballots, if we find your card, then your vote will count.”