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Across The Region, Voters Voice Their Choices

Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio

Will be updated.

St. Louis Public Radio reporters went out around the city and county today, speaking to voters across the region. Here are some of the experiences they had:

Early problems, followed by smooth sailing

The long lines at St. Peters African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Penrose neighborhood had disappeared by lunchtime.

Earlier in the day, more than 100 people walked away after poll workers did not have the book listing registered voters in one precinct.

Joyce Simmons left around 8 a.m. to take her mother to the hospital, but says she always planned to come back and cast her ballot.

"I think the president needs to have more time to do what he needs to do," she said, adding that many of those who left when she did also planned to come back.

City elections officials say all precincts should have a back-up list of voters, which would allow the process to continue without the book. They did not know why the book was not immediately available.

After record lines in 2008, no problems four years later

In Velda City, a tiny North County municipality near the city-county border, things were running much more smoothly than in 2008.

Four years ago, voters waited as long as seven hours after poll workers allegedly failed to set up all the machines in order to put their food on a table.

Terron Morris was the last person in line in Velda City that year. It was almost 10 p.m. when he finally voted. 

The wait wasn't nearly as bad this time, but Morris was he was prepared to repeat the experience if necessary.

"I personally think that the country has a need to continue the progress that's being made," he said. "Slow, but some progress is being made in key areas. Who can fix a problem in the country in three or four years?"

Velda City's mayor says he thinks turnout could be even higher than in 2008.

  • See more stories on issues and elections from St. Louis Public Radio, the St. Louis Beacon and Nine Network of Public Media at BeyondNovember.org.

Rachel is the justice correspondent at St. Louis Public Radio.