Voter intent may decide use-tax recount

Not only has the Cape Girardeau County use-tax question demonstrated the importance of exercising the right to vote, it offers a lesson on following instructions.

A petition calling for a recount was filed April 13 with the circuit clerk's office -- a move allowed by the state because the difference between the number of votes in favor and against the measure was less than 1 percent. A team of eight election judges will use electronic and hand-counting methods to go through the recount beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The ballots are divided by precinct and sealed, said Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers. They will be unsealed in front of the judges in a locked room at the bottom floor of the county administration building in Jackson, the same room where votes are counted on election night. Each of the machines used Tuesday will be tested for accuracy before the recount begins.

As the judges go through the ballots, those that are clearly marked will be run through the machines to be counted. A clearly marked ballot means the voter followed the directions printed on the ballot and darkened the oval next to their answer.

But Clark Summers said not everyone follows the directions.

"Some voters may put a check mark or only partially fill the oval," she said. Sometimes, people circle "yes" or "no" and may not fill in the oval at all, she said.

When this happens, the machine may not be able to read the answer. If the recount shows any difference in the vote, Clark Summers said improperly marked ballots are likely to blame.

"That's the reason the recount could show a change," she said. "A vote either way could not have been read by the machine because the ballot was not filled out properly."

Any ballot not marked by a darkened oval will be reviewed by the judges to determine "voter intent."

The team that will be sworn in Tuesday to begin the recount holds some experience with the process. Clark Summers said many of them belonged to the team that assisted with the statewide recount from the Amendment 1 "right to farm" ballot issue in August.

State law allows only "disinterested persons," or those who have not taken a stance on or are involved with the ballot issue in question who are registered voters within the county, to be part of the recount team.

Missouri law also limits who may be allowed in the secure room where the recount takes place. It allows the contestant -- Jackson resident David Larson, the person who filed the petition -- or a representing attorney, as well as the contestee, Summers, be present.

The public will have a chance to see the results once the recount is finished. They will be posted online on the county's website, capecounty.us.

Summers said she's hopeful the recount could be completed in one day. The team will have more than 7,000 ballots to count, but she said it was able to get through thousands of ballots in the recent statewide recount in one day.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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