Hundreds wait in line to vote in Cape Girardeau

Voters waited patiently in lines for up to 45 minutes this morning, supporting pre-election predictions that this year's balloting in Cape Girardeau County would set records for participation and total voters.

By just before noon, over 2,100 voters had cast ballots at two precincts voting at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau. At 10:40 a.m., 905 ballots had been cast in Scott City.

There were a few glitches in Cape Girardeau County, including ballot-counting machines that had to be replaced, County Clerk Kara Clark said.

As the lines lessened after 8 a.m., Clark said voters should try to go to the polls before lunchtime or wait until mid-afternoon if they wish to avoid the longest lines.

At City Hall, many voters expressed fears about the economy, jobs and health care. The presidential race was by far the most important ballot item cited by voters leaving the polls.

Teacher Russell Grammer and his wife, Amy, took their three young children, John, 7, Luke, 6, and Sara, 4, to the polls with them. For Grammer, the pro-life cause was the most important issue and he chose U.S. Sen. John McCain.

When he cast his ballot before 7 a.m. at precint 17, Drew Reeves was the 230th person to do so. "If anything there isn't a lot of apathy," said Reeves, a McCain supporter.

Sara Jackson, who voted for McCain at city hall, said she attended Palin's rally at the Show Me Center last week and it reinforced her decision to choose McCain. Jackson and her husband, Jeremy, voted together.

"Jay Purcell is a kind of a troublemaker and we need more troublemakers in government," he said.

The gambling measure was on the mind of Grammer as well. He voted against the measure because he said repealing the loss limit would hurt the state.