FIX VOTING PROBLEMS BEFORE GETTING CREATIVE

In this drive-through world, plans to make voting as easy as picking up a cheeseburger and fries was bound to happen sooner or later.

Bills to permit what is called early voting are making their way through the Missouri Legislature. Two other states, Kansas and Texas, already have early voting procedures. The results so far in those states indicate voters like the convenience of voting at their leisure rather than showing up at polling places on Election Day. And election officials in Kansas and Texas say feared fraud hasn't materialized.

Both states say about a third of their voters participate in early voting. This allows voters to cast ballots prior to Election Day. Sometimes they can vote by mail. In other cases election officials set up early voting booths at shopping malls and other places where people congregate.

No increase in turnout

In spite of making it easier to vote in Kansas and Texas, neither state has experienced the hoped-for increase in turnout. This has been a singular disappointment for election officials in both states.

Both the Missouri House and Senate have had committee hearings on proposals to allow early voting in this state. The bills would permit voters to cast ballots in person up to 14 days prior to an election. Secretary of State Matt Blunt is pushing the legislation, which he hopes will get more Missourians to take part in the election process.

As expected, polling places in rural Kansas and Texas have had fewer early voters than urban areas. When voting problems occur -- long lines, out-of-date voting records, fraud -- they tend to be concentrated in cities. This was certainly the case in last year's November election in St. Louis.

Snafus in St. Louis

Secretary of State Blunt sent observers to the mayoral primary in St. Louis earlier this month to make sure the November snafus didn't occur again.

In a report issued last week, Blunt said the March primary went much better than the November general election. But the report went on to detail persistent problems as noted by his own observers. Among them were lists of absentee voters that arrived late, not enough election workers, poll workers who weren't sufficiently trained and improperly sealed ballot boxes.

Problems unresolved

Any one of these deficiencies could have been enough to create a serious voting wrinkle. Taken together, these problems indicate St. Louis is far from ready to run a smooth election free of fraud.

Instead of worrying about early voting, it would seem to make good sense to clean up the problems such as those concentrated in St. Louis. The secretary of state's office and the legislature appear to be focused on sweeping changes in election procedures all over the state while the woes in St. Louis aren't fixed.

The highest priority should be to figure out what's wrong with St. Louis elections. So far, we know that efforts to clean up registration lists have been stymied, in part by the federal Motor Voter Law which requires names to remain active for several years even if those individuals never vote or if there are obvious indications that these individuals no longer live at the addresses listed on registration forms.

Motor Voter Law

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond is trying to address some of these nonsensical Motor Voter Law requirements. Meanwhile, election officials in St. Louis are hamstrung both by a certain level of incompetence and a federal law that restricts workable solutions.

Blunt and legislators should give their attention to the St. Louis problems -- and other voting snafus around the state -- first. Other efforts to try options like early voting -- even though participation doesn't increase -- should come later.