MISSAGE TO COOK: SCRAP CAUCUSES

Missouri should scrap its caucus system and go to a presidential primary.

That was the message at Secretary of State Bekki Cook's town hall meeting Monday night in Cape Girardeau.

About 40 people attended the meeting at the Southeast Missouri State University Center. The meeting was the first in a series of meetings Cook plans to hold around the state this spring to gather public input on what changes should be made to Missouri's election laws.

After the meeting Cook said she was pleased by the turnout.

Cook plans to use the input from the town hall meetings in proposing legislation next year.

Cook said she wasn't surprised by the public support for a presidential primary. "This confirms what I have been hearing," she said.

She indicated she may push legislation to set up a presidential primary. A presidential primary would involve more voters than the caucus system, Cook said. Only about 2 percent of Missouri voters are involved in the caucus system.

In 1988, Missouri held a primary at a cost of about $2 million. About 30 percent of the voters participated. A primary was held that year because U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-St. Louis, was running for president. Missouri subsequently returned to the caucus system.

Cook said it would cost the state about $3 million to hold a presidential primary today, assuming that it is held as a special election early in a presidential year, in advance of the state's regular, April elections.

She said the state could save money by allowing voters to mail in their ballots, eliminating the need for polling places and election judges.

Both Oregon and North Dakota have conducted elections by mail, she said.

But Rodney Miller, Cape Girardeau's county clerk, said county clerks' offices around the state aren't equipped to handle such elections.

Miller said county clerks would have to look at hiring additional personnel to handle the mailing and receipt of ballots.

"We're not prepared at the local level to absorb this cost," he said. "Some of the counties couldn't afford to handle all ballots by mail."

Missouri currently has some mail-in balloting, but only on issues.

Dr. Russell Renka of the political science faculty at Southeast said about 40 states have presidential primaries. He said a presidential primary would increase voter turnout.

But he said the primary would have to be held early in the primary season to attract media attention.

Once it is certain who the parties' nominees will be, the remaining primaries draw little attention from either the public or the media, he said.

Cook said the Republican and Democratic parties are talking about setting up regional primaries.

A number of secretary of states in the Midwest have expressed interest in having a regional primary, Cook said.

Greg Tlapek of Cape Girardeau ran last fall for Congress as a Libertarian. He suggested that election authorities should include "none of the above" on ballots. He said voters would then have a reason to go vote even if they didn't like any of the candidates on the ballot.