Voter turnout in St. Joseph hits 24% for election
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Nearly a quarter of registered voters in St. Joseph cast a ballot Tuesday to decide the fate of a wide-ranging school bond issue and two Board of Education seats.
With all 22 precincts now reporting, preliminary data shows that 24.2% of registered voters turned out for Tuesday's high-profile election. A total of 11,947 ballots were cast out of 49,306 registered voters.
The Central Christian Church polling location recorded the most ballots with 1,952, followed by St. Peter Lutheran Church with 948.
Voters on Tuesday defeated a 60-cent tax levy increase to finance the construction of a new $157 million high school south of Highway 36. Jennifer Kerns and incumbent Kim Miller were also elected to the St. Joseph School District Board of Education.
Turnout for April elections typically hovers between 15% and 20%, depending on the ballot measures.
Roughly 26.7% of registered voters turned out during the last St. Joseph School District bond measure in April 2021, a measure that was also defeated. A total of 12,000 residents voted on that measure.
"I have said this for years. April elections are just as important, if not more than a presidential," Baack-Garvey said. "This affects you right here at home."
