PROSECUTOR: BRANDING CLAIMS UNFOUNDED

JACKSON -- Advertisements suggesting that County Clerk Rodney Miller tried to brand ballots are misleading, says Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

In a letter Tuesday to Miller, the Republican prosecutor said: "statements made recently in political advertisements claiming that as county clerk you tried to `brand' a person's ballot, and suggesting that a court order was required to stop you from implementing some plan of yours to make a public record of a voter's party affiliation, are unfair and misleading."

Swingle took issue with ads being run by Republican Laura Beggs, who is challenging Miller, a Democrat seeking a fifth term.

As county prosecutor, Swingle represented Miller in March of 1988 after a group of six registered voters filed suit.

"The insinuation that you did something improper or illegal or partisan is not accurate," Swingle said. "I represented you at the time and was and remain convinced that you were simply doing your best to follow the conflicting laws and rules in effect at the time."

The presidential preference primary in 1988 was a one-time election authorized by the General Assembly, which allowed the parties to establish rules because it ultimately involved the delegate selection process to the national conventions.

Election officials in St. Louis and Kansas City said its election rules wouldn't allow the recording of who took Democratic ballots, so the party waived the provision there. But the rule applied to the rest of the state.

Two weeks before the election, the national Democratic Party wrote election authorities and advised them that only St. Louis and Kansas City was exempt. They warned that failure to comply with the rules could jeopardize the credentials of some delegates to the national convention.

After consulting with the secretary of state's office, Miller decided to follow the Democratic Party rules. He was then sued by six registered voters.

At a court hearing several days before the election, the matter was resolved by an agreement that signs would be posted making it clear that a person had the choice whether the "D" would be placed by his or her name.

In his letter, Swingle noted that Circuit Judge A.J. Seier, who conducted the hearing, made the specific finding that Miller "has at all times done his best to ensure that Missouri election laws are followed and any Missouri delegates for either party are seated at the national conventions without challenge."

Miller said he hopes Swingle's statements will address the concerns of anyone who has questions about the matter.

"I think it honestly and factually sets the record straight," Miller said.