MOTOR VOTER MEANS MORE WORK FOR CLERKS

The law allowing Missourians to register to vote at state agencies is causing much more work for county clerks, who say they spend too much time tracking down potential voters in vain.

Since the motor voter law went into effect Jan. 1, Missourians have been able to register to vote at license offices or other state agencies instead of the county clerk's office.

More often than not, that state agency is the Division of Family Services, whose patrons frequently change addresses.

"Half of the new ones with motor voter require considerable time," said Perry County Clerk Randy Taylor. ~"There certainly are some rough spots. We have to locate the people and put them in precincts."

The registrants aren't required to list their telephone numbers, making them difficult to find. Sparsely populated areas -- with rural routes instead of street addresses -- are particularly difficult to register.

Taylor, who heads the state association of county clerks, said other counties are facing the same problems.

"When you get applications from homeless people, deciding what precinct to put that person in presents a problem," Taylor said. "We have to take a system with some bugs in it and make it workable."

Scott County Clerk Rita Milam said most of her applications, which have totalled 1,000 since January, come from DFS. Fifty applications went to the clerk's office during the same time.

"We're getting some registration forms back in the mail," Milam said. "The post office can't seem to find them. But we've done fairly well considering the number.

"We'll just have to wait and see how many of the people actually vote."

Bollinger County Clerk Diane Holzum said she expects to work longer hours to comply with the motor voter law.

"It's not easy, especially trying to find the applicants," she said.

~~State agencies don't have to record whether persons actually register to vote. But Shirley Linley of the Cape Girardeau County DFS said the agencies must be able to show they offered everyone the chance.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller said the difficulties with motor voter likely will only worsen during next year's national elections.

"Right now, it's not putting much of an impact on us," Miller said, "but during the presidential election I think it will."

Under motor voter, the registration deadline of three weeks prior to an election was dropped, which Miller said might also present problems for election officials.

"Now you change your registration up to the day before an election," he said. "If they switch precincts that close to election, when the lists are printed, then that's where the difficulties will be."