FILING DEADLINE LOOMS FOR CAPE COUNCIL ELECTION

Although next year's Cape Girardeau City Council election is yet six months away, potential candidates soon will be gathering nominating signatures for their election petitions.

The one-month filing period for the April 5 general election begins Nov. 10, but candidates must first be nominated by at least 50 registered city voters.

Next year's election will be the first under a new ward election system. Candidates will be elected from three of the city's six wards. The at-large mayor's seat also will be up for election.

City Attorney Warren Wells said he believes everything is in place for a smooth transition and successful election.

"We're satisfied that we have the city charter in good shape now and ready to implement the new ward system," Wells said. "The voters have approved the changes that we thought were needed for that purpose, and we think everything is ready to go."

To be eligible, a candidate must be a registered voter in the city, at least 21 years old, and a resident of Cape Girardeau for at least the four consecutive years prior to the election.

Because of the new ward election system, nominating petition signers must be registered to vote in the respective ward from which the candidate seeks election.

Also, the candidate must be a resident of the ward for which he's seeking office for at least 90 days prior to the opening date to file, which in this case is Nov. 10.

For the mayor's race, petition signers must be registered voters of the city at large.

The appropriate nominating petitions and acceptance of nomination forms are available at city hall.

In August voters overwhelmingly endorsed a measure to enable the city to move from at-large to ward city council elections.

In April, voters will select a council member from each of three new districts: Wards 1, 2 and 6. In April 1996, voters will select council members from Wards 3, 4 and 5.

The council members whose seats are up for election next year are David Limbaugh, Doug Richards and Mary Wulfers.

Potential candidates' nominating petitions will be accepted if they're accompanied by an acceptance form signed by the candidate.

A primary election will be held Feb. 8 if more than two sufficient nominating petitions are filed from any ward. There will be a mayoral primary if more than two candidates successfully file for the seat.

"The basic premise is still the same," Wells said. "If there are enough candidates that there would be more than two contenders for a particular ward, then you'd have a primary. That means, of course, that there may be a primary in some wards and not others.

"The biggest change will be that petitions must be signed by persons from the ward in which the candidate is running."

Candidates' names will appear on the primary ballot in the order that certified nominating petitions were filed.

The names of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for council member in each ward and the two mayoral candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be placed on the general election ballot in the order of total votes received by each.

In the last city council election in 1992 there was no primary election. But Wells said the new ward system might encourage additional candidates to seek office.

"I think with the implementation of the ward system, a lot of people may see this as an opportunity to become involved in city government," he said. "But since this is new to us, we just don't know what will happen."