Accessible Voting

Accessible Voting

It is your right to vote privately and independently. Please call the Laclede County Clerk’s office at 417-532-5471 with questions about accessible voting in Laclede County, Missouri.

Voting absentee by mail

Voting absentee by mail gives all registered voters in Laclede County the opportunity to vote without having to travel to a voting location.

Learn more about the voting absentee by mail process in Laclede County, Missouri.

Accessible voting locations

Voting locations must be made accessible for all people, regardless of ability. Under Missouri and Federal law, all voters must be given the same opportunity for access and participation in the voting process.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities from receiving unequal treatment within state and local government services, programs, and activities. (ADA, Title II)  This law protects your right to vote by making sure that voters with disabilities have access to:

  • Accessible parking
  • An accessible route to the entrance
  • An accessible entrance
  • An accessible route to the voting area
  • Voting procedures
  • Voting machines

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) protects the right of people with disabilities to vote by making sure that:

  • Voting locations are easy to get to and to use.
  • People who are blind or have problems seeing get the help they need.
  • Voting is private and personal.
  • Each polling location has an accessible voting machine.

Learn more about the voting locations in Laclede County, Missouri.

Accessible voting machines

Every voting location is required to have a voting machine that is ADA-compliant. These machines include features like audio ballots, large print/zoom features, and height and tilt adjustments on the screens.  Please let the election workers know if you have questions or need assistance with the voting machine.

Any Laclede County voter can use the assistive voting device in your polling place, the ExpressVote. The ExpressVote is a device designed for use by people who are unable to personally mark a paper ballot due to physical impairments or language barriers.

To get started with the ExpressVote voting device:

  • Insert an unmarked card into the input slot on the front of the machine. 
  • To have your card read aloud headphones can be plugged into the front of the device to hear the issues.
  • The keypad has different shaped buttons. It can be also be used to adjust volume, tempo of the spoken word, to repeat questions and to mark your vote choices.

To mark your ballot using the ExpressVote voting device:

  • Once the unmarked card has been inserted, the machine will allow you to mark your card using the touch screen. 
  • Select a candidate or contest choice by touching the oval or anywhere on the line
  • The selection will be highlighted in yellow, and a check mark will appear next to your selection. 
  • Once you hit print, your ballot will be returned from the slot at the front of the machine.

Take your completed ballot to the tabulating machine and insert. If you have any questions about how to mark or cast your ballot, or if you have incorrectly marked a ballot, contact an election official for instructions.

Assistance at the voting location

If you need assistance, you may bring someone with you to help you vote, or you may ask for assistance from the election officials. No person, other than the election judges and members of such voters’ immediate families, shall assist more than one voter at one election.

You may also get help in marking your ballot from trained election officials. Whomever helps you vote cannot tell you how to mark your ballot or provide information to others about how you voted.

Signing election documents

If you are unable to sign your own name and have no other legal mark, make an “X,” if possible, on the signature line.

If you are unable to make an “X,” you must indicate in some manner to the person assisting you that you want to sign your name. The person helping you must sign the election form and attest that you indicated that you want to sign the election form.

Curbside voting

At any voting location that is exempt from the accessibility requirements or if you are unable to enter the voting place, you may vote curbside. Trained election officials will bring a ballot to you. You may sit in your car and vote, or you may vote at the door of the building.

Laclede County Notice of Accessibility

Further Notice is given that, where a regular polling place has limited accessibility, a disabled or elderly voter may be provided an alternate means of casting his or her ballot. Such means may include:

  • Reassignment to an accessible polling place 
  • Curbside voting
  • Assisted voting
  • Voting absentee by mail

A voter may apply for an absentee ballot in person or by mail, or may have a relative or guardian apply in person on his or her behalf. If a voter is permanently disabled, he or she may have the notary requirement for the absentee balloting waived by filing a physician’s statement concerning the disability. In addition, voters requiring assistance may be assisted by a person of the voter’s choice.

For more information on registration and voting in Laclede County, Missouri, persons may contact the Laclede County Clerk’s office by telephone at 417-532-5471 or by mail at:

County Clerk
Laclede County Government Center
200 N. Adams Ave
Lebanon, MO 65536

The Missouri Secretary of State’s Office provides a toll free number for persons with hearing impairments who have access to a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD). TDD users may call 1-800-669-8683 to obtain information on polling places, absentee balloting, voter registration, and other election related services available in their local jurisdictions and from the State of Missouri.

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