The deadline looms for Callaway County residents who want a say in municipal elections to register to vote.
The registration deadline is March 12 for voters to participate in local elections, according to the Missouri Secretary of State's website www.sos.mo.gov.
For Callaway voters, this means choosing a mayor in Holts Summit, filling three seats on the Fulton, New Bloomfield, North and South Callaway school boards and passing or failing a bond issue to pay for upgrades to Fulton's sewer plant.
Callaway County Clerk Denise Hubbard said that more than half of the county's population - 27,833 of about 43,305 based on the U.S. Census - is registered to vote.
Hubbard said people who want to register can do so at her office, which is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Callaway County Courthouse. People can also register to vote by filling out and mailing in the Missouri Voter Registration Application, available both at the Secretary of State's website and the Callaway County Clerk's, callawaycountyclerk.com. Forms must be postmarked by March 12.
Registration is also available at Department of Motor Vehicles offices and state agency providing a service to the public such as Social Services.
U.S. citizens and Missouri residents may register to vote if they are 17 1/2 and may vote if they are 18. People who register by mail are required to show a state-approved form of identification at their polling place, which can be looked up at sos.mo.gov/elections/VoterLookup.
In Fulton, Hubbard said a total of 6,173 people are registered. Ward I has the highest voter population at 2,085. Ward III has the second at 1,872, Ward IV follows at 1,449 and Ward II trails at 767. No council seats are formally contested in Fulton, but the city has a bond issue to determine how it will pay for Environmental Protection Agency-mandated upgrades to the wastewater treatment facility - and how it will affect ratepayers.