QUALITIES OF LIFE: MANY VOTERS DON'T VOTE; THERE'S VOTER APATHY IN CAPE GIRARDEAU, OFFICIALS SAY

On Election Day, many Cape Girardeau voters don't vote.

That's been particularly true in April municipal and school board elections.

Since 1990, less than half of the city's registered voters have gone to the polls in the April election. The exception was in 1994, when 52 percent of the city's registered voters cast ballots.

The 1994 election featured a mayoral contest between two well-known members of the Cape Girardeau City Council: Al Spradling III and Melvin Gateley.

Voters also elected the first council members under the new ward system, which replaced the system of electing council members at large.

In the Cape Girardeau School District, six candidates ran for two seats on the Board of Education.

Also on the ballot were measures to extend a sales tax and authorize the issuance of revenue bonds for sewer improvements.

Statewide, a constitutional amendment on riverboat gambling attracted the attention of voters.

But in recent years, many Cape Girardeau voters have stayed away from the polls.

"There is a tremendous amount of apathy," said Mayor Al Spradling III.

Voters don't turn out for uncontested races or when there isn't a major issue confronting them, Spradling said.

"If nothing upsets them or gives them a choice, they are not going to vote," he said.

Spradling said the apathy extends beyond voting. People don't want to run for seats on the City Council.

"Nobody really cares," he said.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce sees voter turnout as an important quality-of-life indicator in the city.

The chamber's Quality of Life Committee annually issues a report that provides a statistical snapshot of the city.

That snapshot includes numbers on voter turnout.

The first report was issued in 1997. The 1998 annual report was released earlier this year.

As was the case in 1997, the latest report features some faulty statistics on voter turnout.

The committee reported 98 percent voter turnout in the November 1992 election. The actual figure was 81 percent, according to election records provided by Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller.

Kim Swartz, who co-chaired the 1998 Quality of Life Committee, said the committee has strived for accurate information.

"We are feeling our way through this as volunteers, not as paid staff," she said.

Miller agreed with the chamber committee that voter turnout is one indicator of the quality of life in a community.

"I think we have to have people involved in government," Miller said.

The number of registered voters in Cape Girardeau climbed from 15,240 to 23,526 between April 1990 and November 1998.

Miller said the motor voter bill, implemented in 1996, has made it easier for people to register to vote. People can register at license bureaus, for example.

But while voter registration has climbed, voter turnout has fluctuated.

Typically, the biggest turnouts are in November, particularly in presidential election years.

The 81 percent voter turnout in Cape Girardeau in the November 1992 election was a record, Miller said.

But many younger people often see little point in voting, he said. "Younger voters have the attitude that `my vote doesn't count.'"

Mothers and fathers who don't vote pass that habit on to their children, Miller said.

As Americans have seen their standard of living increase, they have grown more complacent about voting, he said.

Said Miller, "The idea of what it cost to establish freedom is not right in front of their face."

When Cape Girardeau turned to a ward system of electing council members, supporters suggested it would increase voter participation in municipal elections.

But that hasn't happened, Spradling said.

In the first ward elections in 1994, 52 percent of the city's registered voters cast ballots.

But turnout was a dismal 11 percent in April 1996 and 15 percent in April 1998. This past April, 27 percent of the city's voters cast ballots.

Spradling, who personally opposes the ward system, said he isn't surprised.

"It is going to isolate more people as opposed to opening up the election process," he said.

Spradling regularly votes in elections. "I just think it is a duty thing you learn as part of your history lesson.

"You have this right, so why not exercise it?"

But Miki Gudermuth, who worked with the original "Elect a Neighbor" campaign to establish the voting wards, doesn't believe lower voter turnout can be blamed on the ward system.

She said the lack of "real burning" issues is the biggest reason for voter apathy.

It also is difficult to find people willing to run against incumbent officeholders, she said. "Most people feel that an incumbent can't be beat."

Gudermuth said Cape Girardeau has a relatively good quality of life. "When the quality of life is good, people don't vote," she said.