ST. PETERS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – Vehicles were backed up for over an hour at times Wednesday as St. Charles County worked to meet voter demand on the second day of early voting.
Cars were lined up all the way back to the highway as residents tried to vote early at the St. Charles County Election Commission in St. Peters.
“The traffic out in the street, it’s long,” said Carl Robinson.
St. Charles County residents hoping to vote early were stuck in line all the way to Highway 79 due to backups at the election commission.
“The first instinct was to turn back,” said Animesh Shah.
Shah and his wife, Nita, brought their daughter to vote in her first presidential election. They eventually found a back route and hope the delay didn’t sour their daughter Anushka’s experience.
“I wanted my daughter, (who) was voting for the first time, to be a little more easy and motivating, that she wants to come every year to vote,” said Nita Shah.
On-site, the line to vote was out the door but moving fairly quickly. Earlier in the day, the delays came from curbside voting.
“This is accessible voting for people who cannot come into the election commission to vote,” said St. Charles County Election Director Kurt Bahr.
Bahr said while this voting is accessible, it’s not necessarily a fast process, and said too many people who could walk inside were staying in their vehicles.
“If you’re able-bodied, it’s actually faster to walk in and vote,” said Bahr.
Bahr said later in the day, they added more curbside spots and got police to direct traffic, which helped, but there’s still a demand as people are hoping to get their vote in early before Election Day.
“To beat the Election Day crowd. I mean, this is nothing compared to what it’s going to be on Election Day,” said Robinson.
“It just seems smart to knock it out,” said Scott Sikes.
The only other location in the county to vote is in Wentzville. Bahr said they only have two early voting spots due to a lack of staff.
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