Retirement and staff changes led to the Crawford County election authority accidentally omitting the publication of the Nov. 4 sample ballot in the Steelville Star that outlines a proposed law enforcement tax. 

State law requires the municipality to run a sample ballot in the newspaper of record for two weeks before the election. Newspaper staff discovered the error on Nov. 3 while assigning election coverage and questioned county and city officials.

Officials immediately began reaching out to the state election authority, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. According to Crawford County Clerk Kim Gibbs, there was an advertisement in the newspaper for notice of absentee ballot on September 24, but no sample ballot was scheduled to publish after.

Gibbs said the honest mistake occurred during the transition of the retired election manager and the new one. In addition, she also said the office of the Missouri Secretary of State was informed about the error, and the Nov. 4 election, Gibbs said, will go on as planned.

“I would like to take full responsibility for the oversight of not posting a sample ballot in the newspaper,” Gibbs said in a statement. “I apologize to the citizens of the city of Steelville and reassure everyone that my office will take measures so that this doesn't happen again. In the future, we will not only post in the newspaper but will be posting on the county website as well.”

The election could face a variety of repercussions due to the lack of public notice, including a smaller voter turnout.

“I think it will have a bearing on how many people will show up,” said Steelville Alderman Ward One William Bennett. 

“My uneducated guess would be no,” said Steelville Alderman Ward Two Jason Ward on whether voter turnout would be impacted by the sample ballot oversight. 

Steelville Chief of Police Mike Sherman said that he is not mad about the unintentional error and that “everybody makes mistakes. At the end of the day, we are all trying our best to do the right thing.”

According to Sherman, the city paid around $10,000 to put the measure on the ballot. 

Placed on the ballot for a second time this year, Sherman is hopeful the voters will support the measure. If passed, the new tax is estimated to generate around $300,000 annually, according to Sherman. In addition, he said the money would be used for key necessities like hiring a full-time officer for “safety.”

Results of the ballot question will be printed in the Steelville Star.