Voter turnout in Boone County higher than expected
Keriana Gamboa
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon Told ABC 17 News in a statement that voter turnout for Tuesday’s special election is larger than she expected.
“It’s slightly higher than what we were expecting. My original estimate was between 8 and 9 percent, and we could potentially be closer to 10 percent,” Lennon said hours before polls closed on Tuesday.
Final estimates on Election Night showed a 12.58% voter turnout in the county.
Voters are voting on Proposition 1, which proposes an expansion of the senior property tax freeze in Boone County. In April 2024, voters approved an exemption for senior citizens from certain property tax increases, which they have to apply for every year.
Voters at the polls today shared with ABC 17 their thoughts on today’s special election. Voter Paula Williams said she doesn’t understand why they are voting on this issue again.
“Well, I’m not sure why we have to vote about the taxpayer [question again], No. 1, because I thought that was already a thing. But I want to make sure that that goes through because I’m one of those seniors,” Williams said.
Patricia and George Stien told ABC 17 News they voted yes because it affects them.
“We voted ‘yes’ because we own property. We’re seniors, limited income. So it’s a big issue for us,” Patricia Stien said.
Gale Sallee also told ABC 17 News she voted in favor of the proposition, as well.
“I’m in the right ward. We need to vote somebody else in. And I’m a senior citizen. So no more taxes,” Sallee said.
Anthony Winkler said he voted against the proposition.
“I voted “no” on the property tax simply because I. I think we should lower property taxes for everyone. And if we lower property taxes for one demographic, they’re not going to be interested in voting on my behalf in the future,” Winkler said.
Columbia residents are also voting on the new City Council representative for Ward 2 after former Councilwoman Lisa Meyer resigned earlier this year. The candidates on the ballot to fill the seat are Ken Rice and Vera Elwood.
The Friendship Baptist Church had issues with its poll machine around 11:15 a.m., according to the supervisor there.
“Individuals had to put their ballots in what’s called the provisional ballot box. Those ballots will still be counted. And basically what happens is that we run them back through the machine at the end of the day, Kenneth Freeman said.
Freeman said some voters were disturbed when the machine was out.
“Most voters were pleasant about it. They simply follow our directions. I was standing by the machine to make sure that their votes were still kept confidential, and when they put them in the box and they moved on,” Freeman said.
Freeman said it was not a normal situation, but it was fixed before noon.
Lennon commented on the issue in a statement, saying they always prepare for those eventualities, and the staff was able to address the jam quickly.
“Voters can choose to wait for the problem to be addressed and then feed their ballot into the tabulator, or they can place their ballot in an auxiliary slot on the tabulator and our bipartisan election judge teams will feed those ballots into the tabulator at the end of election night,” Lennon said.