Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow and her staff have begun the Voter Identification and Canvass process as required every two years by state statute.

Based on Revised Statute Missouri 115.179 and RSMo 115.163.3, county clerks across Missouri are verifying voter registrations by mailing out new voter identification cards. Lietzow said her office expects to spend $6,000 on postage to mail out voter ID cards to the 10,100 registered voters in Gasconade County by the end of the week.

Registered voters should check the cards to makes sure the name and address match with the recipient. If these are correct, they do not need to do anything else but should keep the card for the next time they participate in an election.

If, however, the card has incorrect information, recipients should call the clerk’s office  573-486-5427 or at gasconade@sos.mo.gov to make any necessary corrections.

According to Lietzow, these cards will be mailed to the most recent address the county has on file for the voter and are marked “NON FORWARDABLE.”

If the United States Post Office is unable to deliver the card as addressed, it is to be returned to the County Clerk’s office.

“We will then make a second attempt, if the Post Office has given us a new address, by sending a prepaid, pre-addressed card, in hopes of finding the voter and giving them a chance to confirm this new address is correct by signing and sending it back to us,” according to Lietzow. “If we are not given a new address by the Post Office, or by the voter, the voter remains registered to vote in Gasconade County for up to two years, again as required by Missouri law, but is considered inactive, because the address is obviously not correct.”

If a voter has moved out of the county or the state, they should contact election authorities in their new location to file a change of address form and become a registered voter in their new location.

Voters who still live in Gasconade County but have moved since voting previously will still be able to vote in the April 2026 Municipal Election. They will need to fill out a change of address form at the polling precinct and will then be directed to the correct polling station based on their current address.

“The pre-addressed card lets the county know if you’re still there,” said Lietzow. “It gives us the second chance to find them. And that’s what really helps clean up our records.”

Lietzow is also making an “desperation plea” for registered voters from both political parties willing to serve as paid election judges during the 2026 voting process. Lietzow said she especially needs poll judges in both of the city of Owensville’s two wards.

Election poll judges are needed for the April 7, Aug. 4, and Nov. 3 elections in 2026. Election judges earn $150 for staffing precinct from the 6 a.m. opening to the close at 7 p.m.

Supervisors are paid $175 plus mileage to deliver cast ballots to the courthouse in Hermann once polls close at 7.

Those interested in serving as an election judges will also be paid for attending training sessions which are being planned in both the Owensville and Hermann communities prior to the April election.

Those interested in serving as an election judge are asked to complete a poll-worker registration form which includes their name, physical address, city, home phone or cellular telephone number and their political party.

Registered Republican voters are needed to operate the polling stations for the Gasconade/Stolpe, Hermann Ward 1, and Owensville’s Ward 1 and 2 precincts.

Registered Democrat voters are needed to operate the polling stations for the Bland/Canaan, Gasconade/Stolpe, Owensville’s Ward 1 and 2, Morrison/Rural Morrison, Redbird, Rosebud, and Third Creek precincts.