Get out and vote Tuesday

Tuesday is election day, specifically general municipal election day.

Not everyone will have a race to decide and there’s no big ticket item at the state or national level.

It may be the smallest election on the calendar, but it has big impact to our local communities. From the school board to city councils, elected officials have direct impact on our lives every day.

Butler County Clerk Tonyi Deffendall said a little more than 9,000 active, registered voters will haven an item on which to cast a ballot Tuesday.

“Overall, that’s less than 50 percent who even have anything to vote on. If they question whether their precinct is open, they can give us a call and we can tell them in a minute if they have anything on a ballot or not,” Deffendall said.

Turnout in area counties for the Nov. 6 election last year were all below the state average of 58.23 percent, according to the Missouri Secretary of State office, with Stoddard (54.2 percent), Wayne (53.4) and Ripley (51.0) over Carter (49.2), Butler (47.8) and Dunklin (44.7).

Voters in Poplar Bluff’s Ward 1 will choose someone for the city council while residents in Twin Rivers R-X and Neelyville R-IV will select two school board members. There are also races for city representatives in Neelyville and Fisk.

In Carter County, voters in Van Buren R-1 School District will fill two seats on the board while city voters will answer the question concerning an increase to the general sales tax by one-half of one percent.

Doniphan and Naylor school districts also have two seats being settled while there are four road districts in Ripley County with levy questions.

Dexter R-XI School District voters are being asked if the board can borrow $15 million for site development and issue bonds for its payment. There are also two board seats to fill at the Dexter and Puxico school districts. City voters in Dexter, Bernie and Puxico can also decide races.

There are five vying for two seats on the Clearwater R-1 School District Board of Education, three candidates for Piedmont mayor and races in Greenville and Williamsville for alderman.

This past week we have been highlighting area races with candidate profiles. Those stories will be available to view online at www.darnews.com/topic/elections with free access starting Sunday. A voter’s guide with a list of races and candidates by county will also be available to download and print off.

We encourage everyone to vote Tuesday, even if there is only one race on the ballot. It won’t take long and it will have a lasting impact to your community.