PRIMARY ELECTION: FEW VOTERS EXPECTED AT AREA POLLS

Most Cape Girardeau County voters are expected to sit out Tuesday's primary election.

As few as 8,000 of the county's 43,450 registered voters may go to the polls, said County Clerk Rodney Miller. That would amount to a turnout of 18 percent.

As of late last week, only about 175 county residents had cast absentee ballots.

Miller said the primary election has drawn little voter interest because there are no statewide issues on the ballot and few seriously contested races.

Statewide, about a fourth of Missouri's 3.4 million registered voters are expected to vote.

Secretary of State Bekki Cook said there are nearly 600,000 Missourians of voting age who aren't even registered to vote.

Cook said people have plenty of excuses for not voting. They include not having enough time, not realizing it is election day, feeling their vote doesn't matter and disliking the candidates.

"There is a group of people who feel so alienated, so angry and so frustrated with their government and elected officials that they refuse to vote," she said.

At the local level, the only hotly contested primary race is for Cape Girardeau County collector.

Six candidates -- four Republicans and two Democrats -- are seeking to replace retiring collector Harold Kuehle.

On the Republican side, the candidates are Diane Diebold, Matt Hopkins, Chris Johnston and Tom Cahill.

Democrats will choose between Judy Beussink and Ed Meadows.

The winners will square off in the November election.

Polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Three Cape Girardeau polling places have been changed for this election because of construction work, Miller said.

Voters in Precinct 11 will vote at Grace United Methodist Church. Previously, voters cast their ballots next door at the Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School.

Construction work at the school this summer necessitated the move, Miller said.

Likewise, construction work at Jefferson Elementary School has led Miller to move the Precinct 18 polling place to the Fellowship Baptist Church, 430 Koch.

Construction work along Perryville Road has closed a section of the street for months. That made it difficult for voters in Precinct 16 to reach the Hanover Lutheran Church Parish Hall in the April election.

That precinct's polling place has been moved to the La Croix United Methodist Church along Lexington.

Miller said the polling place changes may be permanent because "we think they are a little better places."

The new polling places have better accessibility and more parking, he said.

As to voter turnout, Miller said August primaries traditionally attract fewer voters than November elections.

Two years ago, less than 20 percent of the county's nearly 40,000 voters went to the polls. In 1994, turnout was 35 percent. In 1992, 38 percent of the county's registered voters cast ballots.

Miller said those who vote in the primary typically are the habitual voters.

In the primary election, voters have to choose a party ballot. They can't cast a Democratic ballot in one race and a Republican or third-party ballot in another race.

Some voters just don't want to go into the polls and choose a party ballot, Miller said.

The Missouri secretary of state's office will once again carry statewide returns on its Internet Web site.

The address is http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us

Early returns should be posted on the Web no later than 8 p.m., said Jim Grebing, communications director for the secretary of state's office.

The Web site will carry vote totals of only contested primary races.