Voters had five ballots to choose from Tuesday, and according to County Clerk Wes Wagner, the choices were more evenly split along major party lines than during previous primary elections.

     "It's pretty momentous for Jefferson County because traditionally we are a county that votes heavily Democratic in the Primary, and then in the general election in November it's more evenly split," Wagner said.  "For Jefferson County in the Primary to have just about an equal number of Democrats and Republicans show up, that says something for how politics are changing in Jefferson County." 

     Unofficial election reports show that out of 30,351 ballots cast in Jefferson County, approximately 14,751 voters used the Republican ballot and 14,556 chose the Democratic ballot.  Additionally, 191 voters used the Constitution Party ballot, and 160 voted Libertarian with an undetermined number of voters choosing the non-partisan ballot.  

     "A lot of the voters got really upset yesterday that they had to choose," Wagner said, but he stands behind Missouri's status as non-political party registration state.  "We've got your name, your address, that's it.  That's a good thing.  In most states around the country, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, when you sign up to register to vote, you have to put a political party down.  The example that I always use with people is let's say I have a neighbor who is the Republican candidate for Sheriff and I go to the poll in California, my name is already in the book and I registered as a Democrat.  I get the Democrat ballot.  I don't get a choice."

     Although state-wide counts indicate that a higher percentage of Republican ballots were cast in other counties, Jefferson County matched the rest of the state for candidates who will continue to the General Elections in November, as well as for Proposition C which passed with 71.1 percent of the vote state-wide, with 72.66% of Jefferson County's vote.  

     Herculaneum's half cent tax question tied with 247 for and 247 against.  Wagner said that a certification team is examining those ballots for anything that might have affected how the optical scanners count them.

     "Some people in Jefferson County, they don't follow the instructions exactly," he said.  "What they will do is they will circle the name of the candidate, or they will put a check mark out to the side. I have seen everything.  Some people will put 'not this guy,' you know, or, 'the other person.'  So the election judges this morning, they will go through and if there are any anomalies on the ballot, if there are names that are circled, they will give voting credit to that person."

     Wagner expects a definitive result from the hand recount in about a week.  If the vote remains evenly split, the issue will fail and the City of Herculaneum will have the option of putting the issue back on the ballot in November.  

     For the most part, elections went smoothly, with just a couple of hiccups.  A traffic accident delayed the return of some of the ballots and supplies, and a malfunctioning fire alarm at a High Ridge polling place required evacuation.  Capt. Blair Smith with the High Ridge Fire Protection Dist. said that a handful of voters and the janitorial staff at Brennan Woods Elementary School evacuated for five to ten minutes, but the election judges never left the building.  Smith said that the alarm had to be taken out of commission during repairs.  

     For full election results from Jefferson County, visit the county's website here. Statewide results are available from the Secretary of State here.