`MOTOR VOTER' ACT BOON TO COUNTY VOTER ROLLS

Cape Girardeau County may increase its voter rolls substantially this year under the National Voter Registration Act that went into effect Jan. 1.

More popularly known as the "Motor Voter" law, the new federal mandate allows people applying for new drivers' licenses to also register to vote.

"If January is any indication, we'll see a lot of new voters," said Rodney Miller, Cape Girardeau County clerk. So far 350 have registered.

Although, Miller said he couldn't reveal where the new voter registrations came from, he attributed a good share of them to drivers' license stations in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

While there are a number of other sites for people to register, he said, "350 is more than usual for a January."

As of Dec. 31, the county had 36,000 registered voters.

"I think the state will be surprised at the number of people registering to vote at license bureaus," said Norma Wildman, supervisor of the license bureau at Cape Girardeau. "We have averaged more than 50 a week here."

"A lot of people have certainly taken advantage of the new law at Jackson," said a representative from that license bureau.

In Kentucky, which started the program Jan. 1, license bureaus registered 10,000 people during the first 10 days.

Meanwhile, license bureaus in Illinois haven't participated in the program.

Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar told the Associated Press the Legislature declined to pass a bill last year because lawmakers it viewed the program as "another federal mandate with no money."

Illinois is among three states being sued for failure to enact the Motor Voter law.

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has sued Illinois, California and Pennsylvania to force them to comply.

About 70 million Americans aren't registered to vote, Reno said. The law requires states to provide registration by mail, at social service offices and through the drivers' licensing process.

The Justice Department has held off suing South Carolina and Michigan, saying those two states were being granted more time to comply.

"We're sort of in a holding pattern," said Kim St. Aubin, a representative for the Illinois Secretary of State's office at Springfield. "One of the problems is that the legislature did not pass a compliance bill."

Illinois drivers' license examination stations throughout the state have registered voters since 1990 on a voluntary basis.

"We've registered 100,000 voters over the past five years," said St. Aubin. "The big difference is that we haven't been asking the people if they want to register."

Under the federal mandate, every person that renews a license has to be asked if they are a registered voter. If not, they are asked if they want to register."

St. Aubin said the state was prepared to implement the plan, but was waiting to see what happens next.

"We understand some states would like to see the law overturned," St. Aubin said.

California is one of them. Gov. Pete Wilson said the lawsuit against his state "is not surprising and has no impact on our legal efforts to block implementation."

Wilson told wire services he vetoed compliance legislation and ordered state agencies not to obey the law and sued to overturn it.

Michigan Gov. John Engler signed a compliance law but ordered state officials not to implement parts that cost money until the federal government paid for them.