BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The ballots were far from an even split on Tuesday in Stoddard County's primary election.
Republican voters cast a total of 3,488 ballots while Democrats cast only 1,359. That's nearly a 3-1 margin.
The parity was seen clearly in the races when the final votes were tallied.
The Democrat race for State Rep. 151 was decided by only 1,151 votes. The Stoddard County portion of the Republican ballot received a total of 3,341. That number is just short of triple the Democrat ballots.
The 1st District County Commission race saw similar numbers. In those races, the Democrat side included 801 total votes while the Republican race included 1,449.
It's difficult to say what brought the Republicans out in such force compared to their counterparts.
With that said, Stoddard Countians seemed to agree strongly on one thing -- that Amendment 2 needed to be passed.
Voters cast 4,335 yes votes and 364 no votes. That's a margin of 92 percent to 8 percent.
The measure passed at the state level by nearly the same margin.
The statewide ballot measure says people can pray in public or private so long as they do not disturb the peace, and gives specific permission for a prayer before government meetings. The measure also states that students can express their beliefs and cannot be compelled to participate in school assignments or educational presentations that violate their religion. In addition, public schools will be required to post the text of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Supporters argued the prayer measure will protect students and ensure that prayer is given the same protections as other types of speech. Rep. Mike McGhee, who sponsored the measure in the Legislature, said it ensures everyone knows praying is OK.
Several groups that oppose the prayer measure formed the Missouri Coalition to Keep Politics Out of Religion, but opposition before Election Day was fairly limited. Critics argued the proposed changes could create confusion about what is allowed and trigger lawsuits to determine how to apply the new provisions.
David Leib of The Associated Press contributed to this report.