HERMANN – Three weeks into the filing period for Gasconade County government offices hints at either a lack of interest or an example of patience being shown by would-be candidates.

After the usual first-day flurry of filings on Feb. 24, there has been a dearth of political hopefuls committing to a campaign for any of the eight local government offices that will be filled in the November General Elections. Thus far, only Republicans have filed for the offices.

Perhaps most surprising is that as of earlier this week, no races had developed for any of the four open offices — those offices with no incumbent seeking re-election: County Clerk, County Treasurer, County Collector and Recorder of Deeds.

The chief deputies in the clerk’s, collector’s and recorder’s offices have filed to hold the offices. However, it was believed there would be interest among newcomers in seeking those offices. And there still might be, as pointed out by retiring County Clerk Lesa Lietzow.

“I, too, think it’s a wait-and-see approach” being taken by people weighing a countywide campaign for county offices, she said.

Indeed, the only race that has developed during the first three weeks of filing is for the county’s top position. Incumbent Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte of Hermann is being challenged by Mark Mundwiller. Schulte is finishing his first term as the county’s top official.

Others formal candidates include Danielle Norsic for the County Clerk’s Office; Glenda Shockley for the County Collector’s Office; Natasha Hesemann for the County Treasurer’s Office; incumbent Jennifer Schneider for the Circuit Clerk’s Office; Jessica Diebal for the Recorder of Deeds Office; incumbent Mary E. Weston for he Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; incumbent Ada Brehe-Krueger for the Division 4 Associate Circuit Court position.

While elected by county voters, the circuit clerk and the Associate Circuit Court judge are state employees.

This year will be the first time Gasconade County will elect a recorder of deeds. Last year, the County Commission acted to separate the Recorder of Deeds Office from the Circuit Clerk’s Office. The move — which has been studied by administrators in other counties with the combined offices — was taken to improve efficiency in delivery of county services, officials said. The separation allows Schneider to focus all of her time on managing an increasing circuit court caseload while allowing a separate officeholder to concentrate on the primary task of recording documents.

The decision to separate the Circuit Clerk and Recorder of Deeds Office had overwhelming support among the other officeholders of county government. County administrators now are busy overseeing the effort to carve out office space for the incoming recorder of deeds in an already crowded historic courthouse.

These past three weeks might prove to be the calm before the storm regarding filing for county offices. A last-minute rush is not unusual for local offices. Candidates have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, to file for this year’s Primary Elections in August.

The other aspect of election-year politics being watch closely is the amount of activity regarding absentee balloting. Unlike some other states, Missouri does not have “early voting,” to which absentee voting often is mistakenly referred. Absentee voting began the same day that filing began. Absentee voting often is seen as a sign of potential voter turnout on election day, a measure of the interest among voters of issues on the ballot.

However, like those seeking office, the number of requests for absentee ballots has been surprisingly low during the first couple of weeks of voting.

“We have had only 17 absentee ballot requests for far, even more slow than usual,” Lietzow said. “But,” she added, “there is still a lot of time.”