COUNTY CLERKS MUST VERIFY PETITIONS

Election authorities around the state will receive copies of petitions for up to three proposed ballot issues next week, and will be responsible for verifying that petition signers are registered voters.

Since the July 8 deadline for petitions to be filed for the Nov. 8 general election, staff of the secretary of state's office have been busy making copies of approximately 65,000 pages of signatures for the three ballot issues.

"We've got three copiers going," said Joe Carroll, director of elections for the Missouri secretary of state's office. "We will finish copying this week and hope to get them out to counties for verification. That process should take about 30 days."

Carroll has until Sept. 8 to determine whether the ballot issues have enough signatures to be on the ballot.

There are two proposed constitutional amendments under review and one statutory change.

One amendment would make games of chance, including slot machines, legal for riverboat gambling in Missouri. The other, known as Hancock II, is an attempt by supporters of U.S. Rep. Mel Hancock, R-Springfield, to pass a stronger version of his amendment passed 14 years ago, requiring all tax hikes to be approved by voters.

Petitions have also been turned over to the secretary of state's office to change state law limiting campaign contributions for both primary and general elections to $300 for statewide offices. A group known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, led the effort to collect signatures.

Another petition drive, designed to limit campaign contributions and led by former secretary of state Roy Blunt, ended when Missouri lawmakers approved campaign reform legislation during the 1994 session.

For constitutional amendments to be placed on the ballot by petition, signatures of registered voters must equal 8 percent of the total votes cast in the last vote for governor in six of the nine congressional districts in the state. In all, that comes to about 130,000 signatures.

For statutory issues, signatures equal to 5 percent of the total votes cast in the last vote for governor in six of the nine congressional districts are required.

State law allows random sampling of signatures for verification, but Carroll said since the riverboat gambling issue was defeated by a very narrow margin in April, he felt it was appropriate to check each signature individually.

"The riverboat amendment is almost identical to one defeated in April by one-tenth of 1 percent and, in fairness, we felt every signature should be checked," said Carroll. "Then, we decided to treat all three the same way in order to be consistent."

Carroll said some county clerks will have signatures to check on all three issues, while some won't have any at all.

Hancock II signatures were submitted from all nine congressional districts in the state, though Carroll said there aren't enough signatures in the 5th and 6th districts.

The riverboat gambling issue doesn't have signatures from the 4th and 7th districts, while the change in campaign contribution limits doesn't have signatures from the 4th, 7th or 8th districts.

Proponents of the riverboat gambling amendment contend they have more than 300,000 signatures; Hancock proponents claim to have more than 216,000 signatures. The total collected by ACORN is unknown.

Carroll explained that in checking the names, county clerks will note by each name whether a signature is valid or invalid. The clerks must list a reason or reasons why a signature is invalid.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller said his staff will begin verifying signatures as soon as possible. "They only send us the names that were collected in this county and I don't know right now how many names that will be," said Miller.

Both Carroll and Miller said this is a busy time for election authorities, with efforts now under way for the Aug. 2 primary.

"We will probably know the status of signatures by the end of August," said Carroll. "We really won't know whether any of these issues have qualified to be placed on the ballot until we get the names back."

There is no statewide voter registration list in place. Registration lists are maintained by county clerks and election authorities.

Proponents of two other ballot issues failed to get enough signatures to submit to the secretary of state for consideration. One issue would have sought a vote on whether to prevent state and local governments from enacting laws and ordinances providing special protection for homosexuals. The other was a resolution calling for the formation of a world government.