TIME FOR VOTERS TO HIT THE BOOKS ON ELECTION AMENDMENTS, PROPOSTIONS

Within a very brief period, voters of Missouri will go to the polls to elect a variety of candidates and decide an equally large number of public policies. When Missourians enter the voting booth on Nov. 8, the state will have already accomplished much of its work, from seeing that candidates are legally qualified to certifying the constitutional amendments that will be decided this year.

When voters go the polls, however, they will just be beginning their obligation, namely to be well informed about the candidates and the issues. Television, correctly or incorrectly, influences most voters in deciding which candidates they favor. In this case, only two statewide offices are to be filled, and thus the job of selecting the proper candidates is relatively easy, but no less important.

It can be assumed that most of us know which candidates we favor for the offices of U.S. senator and state auditor, and we can all hope these choices are made on the basis of qualifications and the issues, rather than mere party labels or knee-jerk reactions that have nothing to do with ability, integrity and fitness for the job.

Having disposed of one ballot, let's turn to the other part of it, that which lists the constitutional amendments and propositions that are also a part of the election process and, many would argue, is in the long run, an even more important component of this year's election. There are five constitutional amendments on the ballot that await voters Nov. 8, three of them placed there by either the 1993 or this year's session of the General Assembly, and two placed there by the initiative petition process, which means that an organization secured more than 120,000 signatures to present it for consideration. The other issue on this ballot is a statutory measure, which was also certified for submission by way of the initiative petition process.

Now comes the really hard part, namely knowing what the issues are and understanding what they mean. The state does the best job it can to present voters with these issues by requiring that their entire text be published in local newspapers. Chances are, unless you were particularly interested in reading these proposals, you passed over the legal notices published in your favorite newspaper. It should be noted that passing over these notices is rather easy, since they are printed in very small text (six-point type is the technical term) and this year's batch required one full page of copy and three-fourths of a second page. There are more than 9,000 words in this notice, which means it has about the same number of words as a weekly newsmagazine, only it's much harder because there are no pictures and the text is quite small, unaided by any modern-day graphics.

If you have already waded through this notice and have read the proposals, you're not only an exceptional person you are also a splendid citizen. And, by the way, you're part of a most exclusive minority in the state of Missouri.

Chances are you haven't read the proposed amendments, and so here's a brief summary of each one, written as concisely and as accurately as I can possibly make it. If you don't like my interpretation, ask someone else for theirs. I'm outlining them not to try to influence you but to provide you with enough generalized information to make your election-day duty as responsible as possible.

Amendment No. 1: Unless you're a resident of a first class county, with a population of more than 75,000 residents, this amendment doesn't affect you. Residents of first class counties are given in this amendment the right to write their own county charter and govern themselves, within the statutes, by rules which they provide themselves.

Amendment No. 2: This amendment permits the state to pay local taxing jurisdictions for some of the losses they have experienced when land is acquired for state parks.

Amendment No. 5: This proposition establishes a citizens' commission that can set salaries for legislators and judges, rather than leaving the matter to the political process inside the General Assembly.

Amendment No. 6: Chances are you've heard about this amendment. It changes the constitutional prohibition against games of chance for the riverboat gambling casinos that have already been sanctioned by voters. The amendment would allow lotteries, gift enterprises and such devices as reel slot machines to be operated on the casinos. This is basically the same amendment that was narrowly defeated at the polls in April.

Amendment No. 7: Called Hancock II, this is the most controversial proposal on the ballot, and with just reason. Voters are caught in the middle between the amendment's sponsor, Mel Hancock of Springfield, who insists his proposition is virtually benign, and state officials, who declare it would create havoc, not to mention greatly reduced funding for important state functions such as local schools, mental health, state colleges and universities, and highways.

Despite Hancock's assurances, his amendment is not without great potential to halt Missouri's progress over the past decade and a half. Even the conservative Missouri Farm Bureau, which helped get Hancock's 1920 amendment approved, has taken a walk on No. II, and the state's senior U.S. senator, John Danforth, hardly a wild-eyed liberal, has urged Missourians to reject the restrictions called for in the amendment. Missourians who take pride in their state will find little to recommend Amendment No. 7.

Proposition A: This seeks to add still another campaign spending law on the books. We already have one and probably should see whether it will work before changing it.

Jack Stapleton if a Kennett columnist who keeps watch on Jefferson City.