Registration deadline today for Missouri primary

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Today is the deadline to register to vote in the Feb. 3 Missouri presidential primary elections.

Prospective voters can register in person at their local county clerk's office, public library or license bureau office. Registration by mail is also possible, but forms must be obtained from the above locations. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by today to be valid for next month's elections.

With no other issues on the statewide ballot, turnout is expected to be light.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller encourages residents to come to polls on Election Day but says turnout in the county likely will be similar to the 2000 presidential primaries, when 17 percent of registered voters showed up.

On the statewide level, 21 percent of registered Missourians participated in the 2000 primary.

The candidacy of U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of St. Louis should boost turnout in the Democratic primary, said state party spokesman Jim Gardner.

"Typically you see a little better turnout with a native son on the ballot," Gardner said.

Gephardt is among the 11 Democrats running in Missouri, with 88 delegates to the party's national convention this summer in Boston at stake.

Democratic delegates will be distributed proportionately to candidates based on their share of the total vote. However, candidates must garner at least 15 percent of the vote to qualify.

Without serious opposition to President Bush, it is anticipated participation on the Republican side will be less brisk.

"We can't begin to guess what the turnout will be, but support for the president will be strong," said state GOP spokesman Paul Sloca.

Two virtually unknown candidates are also running on the Republican ticket, including St. Louis businessman Blake Ashby.

Missouri's 57 delegates to the GOP convention in New York is a winner-take-all affair.

Delegates to both national conventions will be chosen by their respective party's state conventions this spring.

Missouri joins six other states with primaries on Feb. 3. Those will be the first contests after the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses and Jan. 27 New Hampshire primaries, which traditionally launch the presidential election season.

In 2000, Missouri held its primaries in March, by which time the nominees of the major parties had been all but decided. This year's contests were moved up a month to increase the state's importance in the process.

This year marks the third time Missouri has held a presidential primary. The caucus system, which usually only attracts die-hard party activists, had been used through most of the state's history.

A one-time primary was held in 1988 to bolster Gephardt's chances during his first presidential bid. Missouri shifted to a permanent primary in 2000.

Last year, some state lawmakers last year attempted to revert Missouri to the caucus system by cutting funding for the primaries from the current state budget. However, they failed to repeal the law mandating the primaries, and $3.7 million had to be scrounged elsewhere from the budget to pay for them.

mpowers@semissourian.com

(573) 635-4608

ORDER OF NAMES ON BALLOT

Candidates, listed in ballot order, in the Feb. 3 Missouri presidential primaries:

DEMOCRATS

Joe Lieberman, Connecticut, U.S. senator

Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio, congressman

Dick Gephardt, Missouri, congressman

Wesley K. Clark, Arkansas, retired general

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Virginia

John Edwards, North Carolina, U.S. senator

John F. Kerry, Massachusetts, U.S. senator

Howard Dean, Vermont, former governor

Fern Penna, New York

Al Sharpton, New York, civil rights activist

Carol Moseley Braun, Illinois, former U.S. senator

REPUBLICANS

George W. Bush, Texas, president

Bill Wyatt, California

Blake Ashby, Missouri

LIBERTARIANS

Gary Nolan, Virginia

N. Ruben Perez, Texas

Jeffrey H. Diket, Louisiana