CAPE COUNTY RECOUNT SHOW NO CHANGE IN OUTCOME

Vote totals on the riverboat gambling issue changed slightly Wednesday following a recount of ballots in Cape Girardeau County, but pro-casino forces were still dealt a losing hand.

The gambling amendment was defeated in Cape County by a vote of 8,383 against to 6,468 for, said County Clerk Rodney Miller.

As a result of the recount of the April 5 election ballots, the margin of defeat narrowed -- but only by two votes. Pro-gambling forces lost in Cape Girardeau County by a margin of 1,915 votes.

"They changed a little," said Miller.

The final count showed five more yes votes and three more no votes, he said.

The four-hour recount began at 8 a.m. at the election center in the Cape County Administrative Building in Jackson.

"We ran the punch cards through twice," said Miller.

The absentee ballots had to be totaled by hand. "We recounted the absentees by hand at least three times," he said.

There were 203 yes votes, the same as reported on election night. But the recount discovered that the number of absentee no votes had been over-reported election night. There were actually 207 no votes, five fewer than shown on the original tally.

The recount of the punch cards found five more yes votes and eight more no votes, Miller said. But with five fewer absentee-ballot no votes, the anti-gambling side ended up with a net gain of three votes.

Miller said "chads" likely resulted in fewer punch card votes being recorded on election night. A chad is a tiny piece of paper on the ballot card, meant to be punched out by the voter.

If the chads aren't punched all the way through, that particular vote may not get recorded by the ballot counting machine, he explained.

Gambling proponents had argued just that point in asking for a statewide recount, the first since 1940.

Four election judges -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- were on hand for the recount, along with a pro-gambling observer from St. Louis and an anti-casino representative from Cape Girardeau.

The Rev. Roy Jones, director of the Cape Girardeau Baptist Association, represented statewide opponents of riverboat gambling at Wednesday's recount.

"It was very minor," Jones said of the vote changes. "I was amazed that out of all of the thousands of votes that were there, that it was that small."

Jones said the recount showed that election officials in Cape County do a good job. "I was pleased that our election process showed, even in a close election, that folks have taken their job seriously and that the results can be trusted.

"It says, they (election officials) did their job real well," said Jones.

Missouri counties must recount their ballots by May 24. Proponents of a riverboat gambling amendment, which was narrowly defeated in April, had requested the recount.

The constitutional amendment, which would have given state lawmakers the authority to specify the games of chance that could be offered by riverboat casinos, failed by 1,267 votes out of more than 1 million cast.

Perry County is scheduled to recount its ballots today and Scott County will go through the procedure on Friday.