St. Louis area election officials are encouraging voters to take advantage of the state’s no-excuse absentee period, which begins Tuesday and runs through Nov. 4.

Before 2022, Missourians who wanted to vote early had to provide a specific excuse — such as being out of town on Election Day. Local election officials from both parties have frowned on this system, in part because they can’t figure out whether someone is being honest about their reasons for voting early.

Starting Tuesday, Missourians can go to specific locations in their county and vote for any reason. You must bring an official photo ID that has been valid or expired since the last federal election in November 2022.

During a news conference at the St. Louis County Board of Elections headquarters in St. Ann, St. Louis and St. Louis County election officials said early voting could reduce long lines on Election Day. Both St. Louis and St. Louis County are seeing particularly long voting times this year, thanks to judicial retention elections and proposals at the state and local levels.

“If a voter waits to get into the polling place to actually look at the polling place and try to cast their ballot, it’s going to take a long time,” said Gary Stoff, Republican election director in St. Louis.

St. Louis County and St. Charles County election officials expect voter turnout to be about 75% in the November general election. St. Louis officials expect a turnout of 60% to 65%.

St. Louis County Republican Elections Director Rick Stream noted that in-person or mail-in absentee voting accounted for 40% of total voter turnout in 2020. This percentage is expected to fall since the 2020 election took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If we reach just 15 to 20% of voters early, we will have a huge volume of voters on Election Day that will create long lines,” Stream said. “That’s why we encourage people to come out early during this two-week period.”

Eric Fey, director of Democratic elections in St. Louis County, said some people who had already voted by mail often took 20 or 30 minutes to fill out their ballots. He recommends people look at sample ballots so they know how they will vote when they arrive at a polling place.

“If you don’t want to wait in line and sit in the voting booth, research all the candidates and issues,” Fey said.

Early voting locations

The St. Louis Board of Elections will have eight locations for no-excuse absentee voting:

• Buder Library, 4401 Hampton Ave.
• Carpenter Branch Library, 3309 S. Grand Ave.
• Divoll Library, 4234 N. Grand Blvd.
• Kingshighway Branch Library, 2260 S. Vandeventer Ave.
• Schlafly Library, 225 N. Euclid Ave.
• St. Louis City Election Board, 300 N. Tucker Blvd.
• Walnut Park Library, 5760 W. Florissant Ave.
• Wohl Center, 1515 N. Kingshighway Blvd.

Go to the St. Louis Board of Elections website to see what times these locations are open.

There are 14 satellite locations available in St. Louis County. Go to his website for the times they are open.

• UMSL Millennium Student Center, 17 Arnold Grobman Drive, St. Louis 63121
• Lewis and Clark Branch Library, 9909 Lewis and Clark Blvd., St. Louis 63136
• Board of Elections, 725 Northwest Plaza Drive, St. Ann 63074
• Thornhill Branch Library, 12863 Willowyck Drive, St. Louis 63146
• Grand Glaize Branch Library, 1010 Meramec Station Road, Ballwin 63021
• Clark Family Branch Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis 63131
• North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Road, St. Louis 63136
• Jamestown Bluffs Branch Library, 4153 N. Hwy. 67, Florissant 63034
• Mid-County Branch Library, 7821 Maryland Ave., St. Louis 63105
• Oakbend Branch Library, 842 S. Holmes Ave., St. Louis 63122
• Grant’s View Branch Library, 9700 Musick Road, St. Louis 63123
• Cliff Cave Branch Library, 5430 Telegraph Road, St. Louis 63129
• Daniel Boone Branch Library, 300 Clarkson Road, Ballwin 63011
• Wildwood City Hall, 16860 Main St., Wildwood 63040

St. Charles County will have early voting locations at the following locations. Go to St. Charles County Election Authority website To see when they are open:

• St. Charles County Board of Elections, 397 Turner Blvd., St. Peters 63376
• Element Church, 100 Mall Parkway #500, Wentzville 63385

Jefferson County will have early voting locations at the following locations. Go to Jefferson County Clerk and Board of Elections website To view the times and days they will be available:

• Jefferson County Administration Center, 729 Maple St., Hillsboro 63050
• Rickman Auditorium, 747 Jeffco Blvd., Arnold 63010
• New Hope Fellowship, 5919 Antire Road, High Ridge 63049
• Hillsboro Civic Club, 10349 Business 21, Hillsboro 63050

For more election information, see St. Louis Public Radio Voter Guide.