Filing day in St. Louis: Toeing the Line
The city of St. Louis has held on to many traditions. Among them is the practice of hiring stand-ins to hold a candidate’s place in the filing line — sometimes weeks, or even months — before filing actually opens.
The state of Missouri got rid of the system 14 years ago, replacing the line with the lottery, where each candidate filing in Jefferson City on the first day of filing pulls a number out of a bowl, which will determine their order on the ballot for that particular office.
But in the city of St. Louis, the line holds.
According to Election Board officials, Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Sheriff Jim Murphy, Treasurer Larry Williams and eight ward committeemen or women have had stand-ins, or joined in the line themselves, before filing officially opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
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So is it a quaint tradition, or just another way St. Louis is behind the times?