//Run for office · Missouri

How to run for local office in Missouri

Missouri elects city councils and school boards on the first Tuesday in April, so a 2027 local campaign files in December 2026 and is decided before most states' filing windows even open.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Missouri's general municipal election day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April, every year (RSMo 115.121). For April 6, 2027 that means candidate filing opens at 8:00 a.m. on December 15, 2026 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on January 5, 2027, with your city clerk or school district, not the county (115.127.5). Voter registration closes March 10, 2027, and no-excuse in-person absentee voting runs from March 23 through April 5. County offices are partisan and run on the even-year August primary and November general ballot instead.

Elections are decentralized: 116 local election authorities, county clerks in most places and appointed boards of election commissioners in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, register voters, run the polls, and sell the voter registration list for their jurisdiction (115.157). Campaign finance is centralized the other way: every candidate committee, from school board up, files electronically with the Missouri Ethics Commission (130.026), and no state contribution limit applies to county, municipal, or school board candidates. Mail absentee voting still requires a statutory excuse, so most of Missouri's early vote happens in person in the final two weeks.

Election authority: Missouri Secretary of State, Elections Division
Voter file: Available for political and election purposes
Campaign finance: Missouri Ethics Commission electronic filing (required by 130.026.7) (Missouri Ethics Commission)
How voters vote: In person, with excuse-required absentee voting
Registration deadline: 5:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday before the election, in person or online; mail applications must be postmarked by that day (115.135; Secretary of State). There is no election-day registration except for recently returned military and overseas voters.
Local offices: April political subdivision and special district officers are filed by declaration of candidacy without a party primary (115.127.5). County officers, legislators, and statewide officials are partisan and nominated at the August primary (115.349). Some charter cities and counties hold a separate March election or primary under their charters (Secretary of State calendar, 'see local charter'); ask the clerk whether your city's ballot carries party labels.

Who runs elections in Missouri

Missouri Secretary of State, Elections Division Publishes the annual election calendar with filing and registration dates for every election day, maintains the statewide voter registration system that local authorities feed, certifies statewide and legislative candidates, and furnishes absentee-applicant data for elections involving offices filed with the state. A city or school board candidate files locally and reports to the Ethics Commission, so the Secretary of State is mainly your calendar and your pointer to the right local election authority.

Missouri has 116 local election jurisdictions (Secretary of State). The county clerk is the election authority except where a board of election commissioners exists (115.015): the Secretary of State's directory lists boards for St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Kansas City, Jackson County outside Kansas City, and Platte County, and 115.017 also places one in any first-class county containing part of Kansas City unless the county opted to keep its clerk. The election authority registers voters, keeps the computerized registration file, runs absentee voting, and conducts every April city, school, and special district election in its jurisdiction. Where a district crosses jurisdictions, the authority where the most populous part sits handles ballot measures and the authority where you live handles your candidacy (130.026).

Getting the Missouri voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Missouri it comes from Local election authority (county clerk or board of election commissioners) for the jurisdiction file; Missouri Secretary of State for absentee-applicant data on state-filed races.

Access: Available for political and election purposes
Cost: Confirm with Local election authority (county clerk or board of election commissioners) for the jurisdiction file; Missouri Secretary of State for absentee-applicant data on state-filed races
Format: Electronic media or printout. The statute requires at least 20 separate fields: voter ID number, first name, middle initial, last name, suffix, street number, direction, street name, street suffix, apartment, city, state, ZIP, township, ward, precinct, senatorial district, representative district, congressional district, and political party affiliation (115.157.1).
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Not included
Updated: Maintained continuously by the election authority; voter history from each election must be entered and forwarded to the statewide system within three months after the election (115.157.2).

Who can get it: Anyone may request the basic list from the election authority under the Sunshine Law (chapter 610), and in even-numbered years each election authority must supply its full registration list on request to every candidate and party committee (115.157.5). Absentee-applicant lists go only to candidates, authorized campaign committee representatives, and political party committees (115.157.4; 115.289).

Permitted use: The data shall not be used for commercial purposes, and nothing in the statute requires it to be released over the internet (115.157.3). Absentee applicant lists may not be posted or displayed in any area open to the public (115.289).

County option: In Missouri the jurisdiction file is the primary product: the county clerk or election board for your city or district is the seller. Ask for the registration list by township, ward, or precinct, the 'who voted' lists for the last several April and November elections (115.157.3), and, once absentee voting opens, the absentee applicant list under 115.289.

Fees are set under the Sunshine Law (chapter 610) by each election authority and by the Secretary of State, whose receipts go to a technology trust fund (115.157.5). No published statewide price schedule was available on the Secretary of State site as of 2026-09-09; ask the Elections Division at (573) 751-2301 or your election authority for the current charge.
Missouri does not register voters by party. At each August primary a voter picks any one party's ballot (Secretary of State; 115.121.2), so do not expect a party registration field to segment your list.
Year of birth is included; full date of birth, Social Security numbers, and driver's license numbers are not (115.157.1). Voters with court-ordered closed addresses (undercover officers, witness protection, protective-order holders) are withheld (115.157.6).
The Secretary of State, not the local authority, furnishes absentee applicant lists for elections involving offices filed with the state (statewide, legislative, congressional) and ballot measures; for a city or school race, get the absentee applicant list from your local election authority (115.157.4; 115.289).

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Missouri

April political-subdivision races are entered by filing a declaration of candidacy directly with the city, school district, or special district during a three-week window that opens the 16th Tuesday and closes the 13th Tuesday before the election (115.127.5). County, legislative, and statewide offices instead run through the August party primary in even years and file with the election authority or the Secretary of State (115.349).

File with: The political subdivision itself: the city clerk for city offices, the school district (board secretary) for school board seats, and the district office for fire, ambulance, library, road, and other special districts. Before the window opens the subdivision must publish the opening date, offices, place of filing, and closing date (115.127.5). County office candidates file with the county election authority and legislative candidates with the Secretary of State for the August primary (115.349).
Filing fee: Confirm with the filing officer
Petition: Confirm with the filing officer
Partisan?: April political subdivision and special district officers are filed by declaration of candidacy without a party primary (115.127.5). County officers, legislators, and statewide officials are partisan and nominated at the August primary (115.349). Some charter cities and counties hold a separate March election or primary under their charters (Secretary of State calendar, 'see local charter'); ask the clerk whether your city's ballot carries party labels.

Filing window: Unless a charter or statute says otherwise, filing opens at 8:00 a.m. on the sixteenth Tuesday before the election and closes at 5:00 p.m. on the thirteenth Tuesday before (115.127.5). For April 6, 2027 that is December 15, 2026 through January 5, 2027, the dates on the Secretary of State's 2027 calendar. Primary-nominated offices: from 8:00 a.m. on the last Tuesday in February to 5:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday in March of even years (115.349).

Key Missouri dates
What	When	Note
Filing opens, April 2027 municipal, school, and special district elections	December 15, 2026	8:00 a.m. on the sixteenth Tuesday before April 6, 2027 (115.127.5; Secretary of State 2027 calendar).
Filing closes, April 2027 municipal, school, and special district elections	January 5, 2027	5:00 p.m. on the thirteenth Tuesday before election day. A charter may set different dates; the notice the subdivision publishes controls.
Charter city and charter county March election, 2027	March 2, 2027	Only where a charter provides for it; filing November 10 to December 1, 2026 and registration deadline February 3, 2027 (Secretary of State 2027 calendar).
Voter registration deadline, April 2027 election	March 10, 2027	5:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday before the election; mail applications must be postmarked by this date. No election-day registration (115.135).
No-excuse in-person absentee voting begins, April 2027	March 23, 2027	Second Tuesday before the election, at the election authority's office and satellite sites, through 5:00 p.m. April 5 (115.277.1; 115.279).
Mail absentee application deadline, April 2027	March 24, 2027	5:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday before the election, with a statutory reason (115.279; 115.277.3).
General municipal election day, 2027	April 6, 2027	First Tuesday after the first Monday in April (115.121). Polls open 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
August and November 2027 election dates	Varies	August 3 and November 2, 2027 are available for special elections and for districts that elect in November; filing April 13 to May 4 and July 13 to August 3, 2027; registration deadlines July 7 and October 6 (Secretary of State 2027 calendar).
County, legislative, and statewide filing, 2028 primary	Varies	8:00 a.m. on the last Tuesday in February to 5:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday in March, 2028 (115.349); in 2026 it was February 24 to March 31.

No candidate or issue may be struck from the printed ballot except by death or court order, and never less than eight weeks before the election, so a withdrawal after that point leaves your name on the ballot (115.127.3).
Filing fees and petition requirements for city and school offices are set by the subdivision's charter, ordinance, or enabling statute rather than by chapter 115; ask the clerk before the window opens.

Campaign finance rules in Missouri

State-level campaign finance in Missouri is overseen by Missouri Ethics Commission through Missouri Ethics Commission electronic filing (required by 130.026.7).

Where local candidates file: The Missouri Ethics Commission is the 'appropriate officer' for every candidate committee: statewide, legislative, county, municipal, school board, and 'all other offices' (130.026.2). You do not file candidate reports with the county clerk; local election authorities receive filings only for local ballot measure committees. You become a candidate the moment you receive a contribution, make an expenditure, or announce (130.011). Unless you qualify for an exemption, you must form a candidate committee, appoint a treasurer who lives in the district or county, open a single depository account at a Missouri bank or credit union, run every dollar through it, and file a statement of organization (130.021). Every report filed with the Commission is filed electronically (130.026.7).

Contribution limits: No state contribution limit applies to county, municipal, school board, or special district candidates: the chapter 130 limits in RSMo 130.032 were repealed in 2008, and the limits Missouri voters added to the constitution in 2016 and 2018 cover only state and judicial offices. Those constitutional limits, per election, are $2,600 for statewide and other state or judicial offices (Mo. Const. art. VIII, sec. 23) and $2,400 for state senator and $2,000 for state representative (art. III, sec. 2(c)), each adjusted for inflation every four years starting in 2019 and published by rule; get the current adjusted figures from the Ethics Commission. Check your city charter for any local limit.

Reporting: Every committee files a report not later than the 8th day before an election (closing the 12th day before), not later than the 30th day after an election (closing the 25th day after), and by the 15th day after the close of each calendar quarter; if the last quarterly report closes before the 40th day before the election, an additional report is due the 40th day before (130.046).

Exemption for small local campaigns: a candidate for county office, for a municipal office in a city of 100,000 or fewer people, or for any special purpose district office is not required to form a committee or file reports, and need not even file an exemption statement, if aggregate contributions and expenditures stay at or under $1,000 and no single contributor gives more than $325 (130.016, subd. 6). Candidates for statewide, legislative, or big-city (over 100,000) offices get the same relief only at $500 aggregate and $325 per contributor, and must file a sworn exemption statement with the Commission by the first report deadline (130.016, subd. 1).
Any group whose contributions and expenditures each stay at or under $500 in a calendar year, with no contributor over the per-donor threshold, is not a 'committee' at all (130.011(7)).
A committee is dissolved by filing a termination statement once it has no cash or debt; a successful candidate who takes office before the 25th day after the election may satisfy the post-election report by filing before taking office (130.046).

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Missouri Ethics Commission before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Missouri

In person, with excuse-required absentee voting. Missouri is a polling-place state with photo voter ID. Absentee voting by mail requires one of six statutory reasons, but any registered voter may vote absentee in person, no reason required, at the election authority's office or its satellite locations during the two weeks before the election (115.277).

Early voting: No-excuse in-person absentee voting begins on the second Tuesday before the election and runs through 5:00 p.m. the day before (115.277.1; 115.279). Before that window, in-person absentee voting is available only with a statutory reason, from the time ballots are printed.
Mail ballots: Only for absence from the jurisdiction on election day, illness or disability (including caregivers), religious belief or practice, election or first-responder or health care work, incarceration, or address-confidentiality participants (115.277.3). Apply in person, by mail, fax, or email; applications for a mailed ballot must reach the election authority by 5:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday before the election (115.279). Nobody may pre-fill an application for a voter, and no one may solicit voters to obtain applications.
Registration deadline: 5:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday before the election, in person or online; mail applications must be postmarked by that day (115.135; Secretary of State). There is no election-day registration except for recently returned military and overseas voters.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: Each election authority keeps a list of every absentee ballot applicant with name, voting address, and mailing address, and must make copies available to candidates, campaign committee representatives, and party committees for a reasonable fee (115.289). It may not be posted publicly, and in the largest cities and counties it is released to campaigns only after 8:00 a.m. on the Friday before the election. Because nearly all April early voting is in person in the last two weeks, ask the authority for the updated applicant list daily in that window. After the election, buy the list of who voted in that election by precinct (115.157.3) to build your April-voter universe for the next race.

Local government in Missouri: what you can run for

Counties are governed by elected county commissions or, in charter counties, by councils and executives, with partisan even-year elections; the City of St. Louis is an independent city outside any county with its own board of election commissioners (115.017). Cities are classed by statute (third and fourth class cities with boards of aldermen, plus constitutional charter cities such as Kansas City and Springfield). Seven-director school districts elect two directors at each April election to staggered terms (162.291); urban districts follow their own sections. Fire protection, ambulance, library, road, water, and community college districts elect boards in April too. Missouri has no township government in most counties.

City council member or alderman
Mayor
School board director
County commissioner
County clerk
County sheriff
County collector
County assessor
Fire protection district director
Library district trustee
Ambulance district director
Community college trustee
State representative
State senator

When local elections happen: Political subdivision and special district officers: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April, every year (115.121); April 6, 2027. County, legislative, and statewide officers: the August primary and November general in even years (115.121; 115.349). Charter cities and counties may also use the first Tuesday in March, and bond questions may go on the February ballot (Secretary of State 2027 calendar).

Running your Missouri campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Missouri today. You upload the Missouri voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Missouri campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Missouri questions we get asked

When do I file to run for city council or school board in Missouri in 2027?

Between 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 15, 2026 and 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2027, for the April 6, 2027 general municipal election. RSMo 115.127.5 sets the window at the sixteenth through the thirteenth Tuesday before the election, and the Missouri Secretary of State's 2027 calendar prints those dates. You file a declaration of candidacy with the city clerk or the school district, not with the county clerk. Some Missouri charter cities set their own windows, and the subdivision must publish its opening date, offices, place of filing, and closing date before filing opens.

Where do Missouri school board and city council candidates file campaign finance reports?

With the Missouri Ethics Commission, electronically. RSMo 130.026 names the Commission as the appropriate officer for every candidate committee, including 'all other offices', so school board and city council committees file there, not with the local election authority. Reports are due 8 days before the election, 30 days after, and quarterly (130.046). If you are running for county office or in a city of 100,000 or fewer and will stay at or under $1,000 total with no donor over $325, you are exempt from forming a committee and filing (130.016, subd. 6).

Are there contribution limits for local candidates in Missouri?

Not under state law. Missouri repealed the chapter 130 dollar limits (130.032) in 2008, and the limits voters wrote into the constitution in 2016 and 2018 apply only to statewide, legislative, and judicial candidates ($2,600 per election under article VIII, section 23; $2,400 for state senate and $2,000 for state house under article III, section 2, all inflation-adjusted since 2019). A county, city, or school board candidate in Missouri may accept any amount from any lawful source, subject to itemized disclosure to the Ethics Commission, unless the city charter imposes a local cap.

How do I get the voter list for my Missouri city or school district?

From your local election authority, the county clerk or board of election commissioners for your jurisdiction. RSMo 115.157 requires it to furnish, for a fee set under the Sunshine Law, an electronic file with voter ID, name, year of birth, address, township, ward, precinct, and district fields, and separately a list of who voted in any specific election by precinct. In even-numbered years the authority must supply its full list to any candidate or party committee on request. Missouri has no party registration, so plan to segment by vote history rather than party.

Can Missouri voters vote early?

In person, yes, for two weeks. Starting the second Tuesday before any election, a Missouri voter may cast an in-person absentee ballot at the election authority's office or satellite sites without giving a reason (115.277.1), through the day before the election. Mail absentee ballots still require one of six excuses such as absence from the jurisdiction, illness or disability, or religious practice (115.277.3), and the application must arrive by 5:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday before the election (115.279).

Who runs elections in Missouri, the county or the state?

The county, through 116 local election authorities. In most Missouri counties the elected county clerk is the election authority; St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Kansas City, Jackson County, Platte County, and other first-class counties around Kansas City have boards of election commissioners appointed by the Governor (115.015; 115.017). These local authorities register voters, run absentee and election-day voting, conduct every April city and school election, and sell the voter file. The Secretary of State sets the calendar, keeps the statewide registration system, and files statewide and legislative candidates.

What is the voter registration deadline for the April 2027 Missouri election?

Wednesday, March 10, 2027, at 5:00 p.m., the fourth Wednesday before the April 6 election (RSMo 115.135; Secretary of State 2027 calendar). Mailed registration forms count if postmarked by that day, and online registration closes then too. Missouri has no election-day registration, so a local campaign's persuadable universe is fixed four weeks out; spend the last month on turnout among voters already on the rolls.

Is a Missouri city council race partisan?

Usually not on the ballot. Missouri's April political subdivision and special district races are entered by declaration of candidacy under RSMo 115.127.5 rather than through the August party primary, which is reserved for county, legislative, and statewide offices (115.349). Whether a city ballot shows party labels depends on its charter, and a few charter cities and counties hold their own March election, so check with the city clerk. School board seats are filed the same April way (162.291).

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.