Want to find a notary or register to vote? These Kansas City groups offer help
Voter registration and ballot notary booths are popping up across Kansas City as more voters than ever are expected to vote by mail this year.
Saturday morning, voters with ballots and questions stopped by a curbside notary station outside Messenger Coffee Company. At community centers across the city, volunteers with Voters Helping Voters were ready with voter registration forms and documents to request mail-in ballots.
Danielle Lehman, founder of Curbside Notary, said her organization has more than 60 events scheduled to help Missouri voters notarize ballots.
She has recruited people to become notaries and is setting up outside restaurants and coffee shops in Kansas City. By Saturday, she said, they had notarized about 50 ballots but expected to do more as people received their ballots in the mail.
By offering the service in high foot-traffic areas, Lehman said, she hopes to be able to answer questions and educate people so they can get their votes counted.
“Everybody’s kind of confused about literally everything,” Lehman said.
A list of times and locations is available on the Curbside Notary website. Lehman said she plans to continuing offering the service through the end of October.
The Kansas City Parks Department partnered with Voters Helping Voters to set up voter registration and notary booths outside community centers.
Linda Medoff, one of three volunteers outside the Roanoke Community Center Saturday morning, said few voters had come by thus far, though she hoped to see more. The group will be working to help people vote until the election. Dates and locations are available on the KC Parks Department website.
The Missouri voting system is one of few in the country that requires a notary for a mail-in ballot.
By offering consistent outdoor opportunities, Medoff said, she hopes more people will be able to vote.
Last week, she said, she helped someone register for the very first time.
“It’s just such a great feeling,” she said.
The deadline to register to vote in Missouri is Oct. 7.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
