CAPE VOTERS TO DECIDE WAY COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTED

Voters in Cape Girardeau Tuesday will decide whether to change the way city council members are elected.

On the ballot is an initiative that would change from at-large council elections to zone representation. The measure was placed on the ballot after a petition drive secured more than 1,700 signatures enough to force a city-wide vote on whether to amend the City Charter to allow zone representation.

Voters will decide whether to elect councilmen from six zones and the mayor in an at-large election. The proposed zones would be comprised of the original boundaries of the following city voting wards as they existed in 1989:

Zone 1: Wards 1, 3 and 4; Zone 2: Wards 8, 9 and 12; Zone 3: Wards 5, 6 and 11; Zone 4: Wards 2 and 16; Zone 5, Wards 13, 14 and 15; and Zone 6: Wards 7 and 17.

The ballot question reads in part: "All six councilmen shall reside in and be elected by the voters residing in their respective zone."

It's uncertain whether the zone boundaries, which were established based on the number of registered voters in each voting ward, would be legal. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such representative zones must preserve a "one-man, one-vote" rule. The court has ruled that the zones must have nearly the same number of people of voting age to assure equal representation on the council.

Proponents of the measure have conceded there might have to be changes in the zone boundaries, but have said the vote Tuesday is an opportunity for voters to decide whether they approve of the concept of zone representation.

Cape Girardeau City Attorney Warren Wells has said that if voters approve the measure, the legal concerns will have to be resolved by additional charter amendments, litigation or both.