Missourians across the state are exercising their right to vote today in municipal elections. KBIA’s Andrew Nichols visited the polls in Columbia, and caught up with voters.
Voters around Columbia are turning out today in support of the issues most important to them. Voting at Paquin Towers, Columbia resident Nancy Kennedy said the most critical issue for her is Boone County’s Proposition One. It would raise the county’s sales tax to fund 9-1-1 emergency services.
"I think it is necessary for all over, it is such a wonderful thing to have in the case of emergency. I live in a place where a house blew up and if it weren’t for 9-1-1, uhh!"
But other residents out at the polls today say other issues are just as important. Mary Hussmann is a volunteer with Columbia’s Grassroots Organizing. She was delivering a voter to the polls at the Boone County Government Center. She says her main concern is getting citizens out to the polls. Her organization gives free rides to polling places for voters, regardless of the way they’re voting.
"We do that every election and if people call us and want to get a ride to the poll, we’re not going to say silly things like ‘Well are you going to vote this?’ or ‘Are you going to vote for this person?"
Other issues on the ballot for Columbia residents today include electing a mayor and city council members for the third and fourth wards.
