RECORD VOTING ISN'T THAT EASY TO ACHIEVE

Rare is the November election day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in even-numbered years, when reports don't abound, by midmorning at least, of a "heavy" and frequently "record" voter turnout. The fact is that when all tabulations are done, only rarely is there an especially "heavy turnout." And so it was again this year.

The secretary of state's office informs us that Missouri voters turned out in decent numbers, but not the record turnout that had been rumored and even reported in some media quarters. One week after the Nov. 7 election, the secretary of state's office reports that almost two-thirds of the state's registered voters turned out to vote. More than 2.36 million Missourians voted, 30,000 short of the record set eight years ago. There are 3.6 million registered voters out of 4.1 million who are eligible to vote.

Local election officials around the state had forecast a large turnout based on requests for absentee ballots. A spokesman for the secretary of state said those totals were ahead of 1996 but below 1992.

Many totalitarian nations have featured voter turnouts of 90 to 99 percent in elections that are entirely phony, rigged affairs. We will never approach those numbers, nor should we expect to. Failing to vote can be a sign of contentment as easily as it is a sign that would-be voters have tuned out. One thing you can probably look forward to is that in November 2004 you will hear reports of an expected heavy voter turnout. Take these reports with a grain of salt.