ELECTION PANEL HEARING IN CAPE

Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt's election commission will hold a hearing in Cape Girardeau today as it looks to improve the state's election laws.

The 22-member bipartisan commission of county clerks and directors of local election boards, however, likely won't recommend sweeping changes, said commission member and Perry County Clerk Randy Taylor.

Blunt will moderate the public hearing, scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center north meeting room.

Testimony must be submitted in writing before the meeting begins, said Spence Jackson, Blunt's director of communications. Jackson said Blunt will call on people to testify based on the written forms submitted to the commission.

The hearing is scheduled to last two hours.

Election fraud concerns

Blunt has said the commission might consider proposals to reduce election fraud and ensure that legally registered voters don't have to jump through bureaucratic hurdles when they go to the polls.

Taylor said vote recount procedures might be addressed.

"If we get to a hand-count situation like we did in Florida, we need to be consistent with it anyway," he said.

Taylor expects some voter registration complaints to be voiced at the hearing, one of three scheduled around the state today. The Cape Gir-ardeau hearing will be sandwiched around meetings in Springfield and Kirksville. The first two hearings were held Friday in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The commission is scheduled to meet in Jefferson City Wednesday and hold an interactive video conference to solicit further public comment later this month.

The commission, which first met on Jan. 9, is slated to hold its final meeting in Jefferson City on Jan. 26. Blunt wants a commission report by Jan. 30.

The recommendations then would be presented to Gov. Bob Holden and the Missouri Legislature.

Recommendations need to keep costs in mind, and Taylor said he doesn't want counties to be saddled with expensive changes.

"It is very important that any changes do not burden us moneywise," he said.

Commissioners have talked of using a uniform voting procedure statewide, but Jackson said there is little support for such a move.

ELECTION HEARING

WHAT: Pulbic hearing on state election laws

WHEN: 2 p.m., today

WHERE: Show Me Center north meeting room