CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY PLANS CANVASS OF ALL REGISTERED VOTERS

JACKSON - Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller will soon be conducting a canvass of registered voters in the county as part of his office's ongoing process of keeping voter registration records current.

By the middle of January, Miller said, all voters in the county should be receiving a new voter identification card. The card will include the voting ward where the person resides and the numbers of all city, legislative, fire, and other districts where a person is located.

In some instances there will be a lot of changes in district numbers this year because of the re-districting process that occurs in the year following a census.

The clerk mails out new cards at the start of all even numbered years. Not only do the cards provide information about districts and a method for election officials to identify voters, the mailing process also gives the clerk an opportunity to determine whether voters are living in the voting ward where they are registered.

Miller said the cards will be mailed as soon as new city council district lines are finalized in Delta and Jackson. He noted that all cards need to be out prior to the April city and school elections.

As part of the canvass, some names will be removed from the county's voter registration rolls. But since 1992 is a presidential election year, Miller predicts the numbers will grow before November.

As of Dec. 9, there were 31,813 registered voters in the county, up from 29,961 for the same time period in 1990.

"It really climbed before the Proposition B vote in November," said Miller. "We have seen a growth the last six to eight months."

Miller believes the canvass will result in about 2,000 names being removed, but predicts a rapid growth with as many as 4,000 new voters being added during 1992.

"We anticipate being at 34,000 by the presidential election," remarked Miller. "The presidential election tends to bring people out."

Hotly contested August primary elections for governor between both Democrats and Republicans will also stimulate interest and increase registration, Miller noted.

"It may be one of the biggest primary elections we have had in a while, especially with strong races on both sides," he declared.

Besides the ongoing registration process, Miller said he expects to conduct a number of special registration drives during the year.

When the new voter I.D. cards are mailed out, Miller explained, the postal service will return any cards of people who have moved, including any forwarding address. People who have moved within the county will receive letters giving them 21 days to change their address or they will be taken off the registration books.

Miller said he anticipates sending out about 1,000 change-of-address notices.

Citizens may register to vote or change their voting address at the county clerk's registration offices at the Common Pleas Annex in Cape Girardeau and the county administration building in Jackson.