St. Louis voters head to Aug. 4 federal primary with charter modernization measure

St. Louis voters will go to the polls Tuesday, Aug. 4, for the city’s federal primary election, which also includes a proposed measure to modernize portions of the St. Louis City Charter.

The St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners is administering the election. Polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Monday, Aug. 3, is the final day for in-person no-excuse absentee voting before the election. That voting option began July 21. Application-based absentee voting began June 23, according to the election commission’s schedule.

Election schedule and voter materials

The deadline to register for the Aug. 4 election was July 8. Candidate filing for the primary ran from Feb. 24 through March 31.

The election commission’s official page links to candidate-list and sample-ballot materials for the federal primary. The accessible page does not display the complete sample-ballot text for every contest, so the available materials do not establish a complete list of races or candidates in the public-facing page content.

The election is identified by the city as a federal primary election. The Board of Election Commissioners’ schedule and voting information apply to the City of St. Louis election.

Proposed charter changes

In addition to the primary contests, voters will consider a proposed charter modernization measure associated with Charter Modernization Ordinance 72103.

City ordinance records describe the proposal as updating charter references involving city departments, publication methods, obsolete statutory references, pay-scale references, title language and numerical formatting. The listed changes concern the language and structure of city government references rather than an identified election result.

The city’s ordinance records list Ordinance 72103 as effective March 3, 2026. That ordinance status does not resolve the ballot question: the charter modernization item remains a proposal for voters to decide in the Aug. 4 election.

No result for the charter amendment was available as of Aug. 3. Election Day is therefore the next known decision point for the proposed charter updates as well as the federal primary contests.

For voters planning to cast ballots in person on Tuesday, the election commission’s published voting window is 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those seeking to vote in person before Election Day must do so by the Aug. 3 deadline for no-excuse absentee voting.