Update, 5:15 p.m.: Greene County voter turnout increased by roughly 4 percentage points over the 4 p.m. hour. The Greene County Clerk's office said on Twitter that "approximate turnout" reached 15 percent of registered voters.
We are at an approximate ️15% turnout for @GreeneCountyMO voters today.
— Office of the Greene County Clerk (@greenecovotes) April 4, 2023
Your 🗣matters and so be sure to go to your assigned polling location or a central polling location to cast your 🗳.
Polls are open until 7️⃣:0️⃣0️⃣ 🅿️Ⓜ️
Learn more at: https://t.co/4RXq1cEfbJ #Vote2023 pic.twitter.com/xuUJe6liz3
Original story posted 4:15 p.m.: Voters are selecting among candidates for Springfield mayor, City Council, school board and ballot initiatives including a $220 million school bond.
Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller said shortly before 4 p.m. that turnout was around 11 percent. He expects final turnout to be roughly 17 percent, matching an earlier prediction from his office. He said more voters will likely go to polls around rush hour, as they finish working for the day.
Two KSMU listeners contacted Ozarks Public Radio to describe polling location abnormalities — reported copies of a voter guide paid for by two conservative groups including the Back on Track America Political Action Committee left at a church polling location on Glenstone Avenue, and a poll worker at a central Springfield precinct photographed wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat favored by Donald Trump supporters.
Schoeller confirmed these issues and says his office addressed them.
“We immediately sent out information to all of our polling locations,” he told KSMU, “making sure that those had been removed. It’s covered in election judge training. We let them know that there can be nothing there that indicates any voter preference once they get in within that 25-foot outer entrance as they come into their polling location.”
Generally, Schoeller said, voters may wear political apparel at a poll, so long as it’s not connected to a candidate up for election that day, but poll workers may not wear items that could show a political point of view.
Schoeller noted he was aware of just a couple of complaints amid a pool of trained poll workers numbering at least 300 across Greene County.
Schoeller said anyone may contact his office with election concerns by calling 417-868-4060 and pressing option 1.
Voters may also reach out to the Missouri Elections Integrity Office by calling 800-669-8683.
Federal authorities can be reached at civilrights.justice.gov.
Polls remain open until 7 p.m.
