Election results will be posted here when the polls close in Missouri at 7:00 pm on November 8, 2022.
Missouri’s top race is a face off between GOP Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine for retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt’s seat, which is considered safely Republican.
Schmitt largely campaigned against President Joe Biden and inflation, characterizing Valentine as an out-of-touch heiress who would side with the Democratic president over Missourians.
Valentine’s campaign catchphrase was “nobody’s senator but yours,” and she slammed Schmitt for voting as a state senator to allow foreign ownership of farmland and over his support for the state’s ban on abortion.
Missouri was once a swing state but has become solidly Republican over the past decade. Still, Valentine had plenty of money to spend — she’s the daughter of the late longtime Anheuser-Busch chairman, August Busch Jr.
Missouri voters also will elect at least two new congressional representatives to fill the seats of Republicans who both ran unsuccessfully for Senate.
Party control of Missouri’s eight congressional seats appears unlikely to shift from Republicans’ current advantage over Democrats in six districts.
Top issues on the ballot include whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use. Nearly two-thirds of Missouri voters in 2018 voted to approve medical marijuana use.
Here’s a look at what to expect on election night:
Election Night
Polls close at 7 p.m. local time.
How Missouri Votes
Missourians can vote in person two weeks before Election Day. The polls are open until 7:00 pm on November, 8, 2022.
What’s changed since the pandemic election of 2020?
Voter ID will be required in November, which could increase the number of provisional ballots cast. And a recent change in state law allows no-excuse in-person voting from the second Tuesday before Election Day until the day before Election Day. This may shift voting turnout for the general election.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
Voter turnout is projected to be about 2.6 million.
How long does counting usually take?
Absentee ballots are due by or before Election Day and may begin being processed five days before the election, which speeds things up. Nearly all absentee totals are reported in the first wave of results, which usually appears about 30 minutes after polls close.
Historically, only 0.5% of ballots remain uncounted on Election Day.
What are the pitfalls with early returns?
The St. Louis region on the eastern side of the state makes up a third of the state’s population but is slow to report results. That means early returns can be skewed Republican since rural areas are overwhelmingly Republican.
What happens after Tuesday?
While unofficial vote tallies are released within hours, local election authorities have until Nov. 22 to audit and verify the election results.