COOK AWARE OF ELECTION STATUTE PROBLEMS

Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook said Tuesday that her office knew there were problems with the state's new election law long before the death of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson.

"We knew in February when we were working on this that this law was way too complex and it had problems and we needed to address it,' she said.

She said the law had inconsistencies and wasn't clear when it came to regulations regarding election filings.

But she said in a telephone interview it was too late to deal with the issue in the 1996 legislative session.

She said the issue wouldn't have received much attention from lawmakers at that time.

In addition, she said it would have posed a problem for county clerks across the state if major changes were made in the laws in the middle of an election year.

"County officials have enough trouble managing elections and making sure there are no slip ups that occur," she said.

Cook met last week with House Speaker Steve Gaw, D-Moberly. She said he promised to address the issue in the 1997 session.

"We learn from these experiences and if we don't then we are being silly," she said.

Cook's comments came in response to criticism from her Republican opponent, John Hancock of St. Louis.

Hancock has repeatedly criticized Cook's decision not to reopen the filing period for the 8th District congressional seat after the death last month of Emerson.

At a press conference at the Cape Girardeau Holiday Inn Tuesday afternoon, Hancock said the new election law is bad public policy and was never intended to prevent reopening of filing after the death of an incumbent.

But Cook said the intent of the election law was to avoid having to reprint election ballots.

Hancock, president of a St. Louis marketing and public relations firm, said Cook should have urged lawmakers to change the law in the 1996 session if she knew in advance that it had problems.

Hancock said Cook had several other options after Emerson died besides refusing to reopen the filing period.

He said the secretary of state could have sought an attorney general's opinion, requested a court ruling, opened filing and simultaneously gone to court to clarify the law, or simply reopened the filing.

Hancock isn't a lawyer, but he said he had talked with lawyers on both sides of the issue.

Cook, who is a lawyer, said she and her legal staff reviewed the law earlier this year. In their view, the law doesn't allow filing to reopen after late May for the August primary election.

She said it isn't the job of the secretary of state to file suit.

"We wait for people to file suit against us. I don't go in for a declaratory judgment and ask the court to tell me what I ought to do," said Cook.

Hancock said the law isn't clear about what happens in terms of the filing period when an incumbent dies within 76 days of the August primary and there are other candidates on the ballot.

He argued that the law could be interpreted in such a way to allow for reopening of the filing period.

Prior to enactment of the new election law in 1995, the law was clear, Hancock said.

He said filing would have reopened after the death of Emerson, unless it had occurred 2 1/2 weeks before the August primary.

In that case, Emerson's name would have remained on the ballot. Had Emerson won the primary, the 8th District Republican Committee would have named a new candidate to replace the deceased candidate on the November general election ballot, Hancock said.

Cook said she is being second guessed by Hancock for partisan political purposes.

She said Hancock wants to "play fast and loose with the statutes."