Few voters in Cape, Scott, Perry, Bollinger counties turn out for election day

A quiet election day passed with few surprises in Southeast Missouri.

Voters chose members of city councils, school boards and other local government entities. The heaviest turnout was in the smaller towns, where issues such as sewer systems and flood control dominate the agenda.

In Jackson, there will be no changes in the board of aldermen because no one opposed the four members and Mayor Barbara Lohr as they sought new two-year terms. Cape Girardeau had no municipal offices on the ballot.

Overall, turnout was extremely light in Cape Girardeau County, said Clerk Kara Clark Summers. Fewer than 5 percent of the county's 50,169 voters bothered to vote. In the smaller towns, while the vote totals were small, the overall turnout was four to five times higher than the county as a whole.

"You can really tell that the places with contested races had the highest turnout," she said. But generally, she said, election judges were idle. "Everywhere I went, the people wanted more voters."

An election judge who asked not to be named gave a more colorful description. "It was 14 hours of boredom followed by 45 minutes of pandemonium at the end," she said.

While turnout in Cape Girardeau was less than 10 percent of the vote, in places like Gordonville, the turnout was strong for an April election.

Nearly 25 percent of Gordonville voters took part and elected Collin McClanahan with 49 votes, John Dumey and Kristy Strop to the village board of trustees. Incumbent Sheila Gross, who came in fifth in the five-way race with 32 votes, said she was pleased with both the turnout of voters and candidates.

"I want to see the best for the village," Gross said as she waited for returns to be posted in the County Administration Building in Jackson. "I am so tickled we finally have five people on the ballot."

In other town elections in Cape Girardeau County, Allenville voters gave Fran Wolfe 13 votes and Darlene Thompson and Jeff Anglin 10 each to defeat Albert Cook for the village board. In Dutchtown, Shirley Moss took 8 votes, Angela Crutsinger 7 votes and Dustin Lee Hoesli received 6 votes to win seats on the village board. In Delta, Dale Hobeck was the victor in Ward 1 over Kaye Lesch by a 22-18 margin and Ernest Brown defeated incumbent Harold Looney in Ward 2 with 40 votes to Looney's 21.

Voters in the Cape Special Road District stuck with longtime board member Robert W. Erlbacher III, giving him 724 votes to 357 combined for his two opponents, Norman Goehman and Pat Wissman.

Scott County

In adjacent counties, turnout was also light, clerks reported during the afternoon. In Scott County, 13.3 percent of voters cast ballots, propelling a half-cent sales tax measure to victory in Morley, Mo., and re-electing incumbents Kerry Tidwell and Joe Williams to the board of trustees.

In other Scott County cities, Justin Bradley took the victory in Ward 1 in Oran over Harold J. Landewee and Donald Harris defeated Gil Roslen in Ward 2. In Chaffee, Darlene Crocker defeated William "Lum" Stricklin and Wayne Held to take over the council seat held by Jason Frazier, who did not seek re-election, and Dennis Glastetter defeated Russell Golightly for the Ward 4 seat held by Tom Cunningham, who also is stepping down.

Bollinger County

In Bollinger County, the only contested city race in Marble Hill went to incumbent Tim McCain, who defeated challenger Joshua Andrews by a 25 to 17 vote. Sedgewickville Fire District voters chose Jason Harold Dailey for a two-year unexpired term over Theodore E. Davis and Charles Edwin McGuire and James J. Pate over Christine Gunn for a four-year term.

Perry County

In Perry County, incumbent Perryville Alderman Randy J. Leible of Ward 2 easily defeated challenger Donald Horn, 119 to 21, while Beth Guth cruised to election for a seat on the Perry County Memorial Hospital board of trustees. Guth took 480 votes, while four opponents combined received 336.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo.

131 S. Winchester St., Benton, Mo.

321 N. Main St., Perryville, Mo.

204 High St., Marble Hill. Mo.