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St.
Louis has undertaken a controversial effort to expand voter participation
by allowing voters to cast their ballots during an early voting
period. The move, which the Democratic mayor says would prevent
many problems that developed during the 2000 election, may have
much larger ramifications as both candidates battle in a closely
fought contest to capture Missouri's 11 electoral votes.
Democratic Mayor Francis Slay of St. Louis has been one of the
main advocates for early elections, a process that is legal in
nearly half the states. He has called for implementation of a
2002 state law to alleviate traditional voter congestion on Election
Day and make sure voters would not get "off work at 5 or
6 o'clock to try and figure out how to get home and feed their
kids and then get to the voting polls."
 "Early
voting would make voting more convenient to everyone, not just
Democrats but Republicans and Independents and not just in the
city of St. Louis, but for voters in the entire state of Missouri,"
Slay said in an interview Monday.
In the 2000 election St. Louis - like Miami-Dade and other counties
in Florida - came to the forefront in the fight for the White
House when election officials turned away potential voters who
could not be verified. Those and other actions prompted a lawsuit
against the St. Louis Election Board by the Justice Department.
Slay said the early elections were simply a response to the same
mistakes made in 2000.
"To confine voting to one day between certain hours is tough
on anybody with business schedules these days. [Early voting]
will help us avoid the last-minute rushes," Slay said.
But Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt, who is running for
Governor, disagrees with Slay's interpretation of the law.
When Mayor Slay turned to the Attorney General Jay Nixon for clarification
on the law, Blunt wrote a letter to Nixon in mid-June contending
that state law does not allow people who will be absent Election
Day to vote in advance and that it only requires local officials
to plan for the possibility.
"We are puzzled by the mayor's actions," said Spencer
Jackson, spokesman for Secretary Blunt.
Nixon declined to make an interpretation of the law.
In
an interview Wednesday, Nixon said that his decision "won't
settle the question [on the legality of early voting] because
the ultimate election official in the state of Missouri, the Secretary
of State, has said, in essence, he won't count those votes if
they are cast early. No opinion of a single attorney general is
going to trump an election official absent a court order."
He
added, "The only way to get the certainty is to get a court
of competent jurisdiction to make that order."
Although Slay said he was disappointed that Attorney General Nixon
failed to make a ruling, he remains confident that Nixon's decision
not to rule indicates his position that early voting is allowed
under law.
"If early voting were not allowed, he would have said that
in his decision," said Slay.
"The Attorney General was concerned that if he came up with
a conflicting opinion it would cause confusion on election-day
and the Secretary of State would disallow some votes."
Nixon said his personal opinion of the state law in this case
is "stunningly irrelevant."
But
he added, "It is important to note that 113 out of 114 jurisdictions
did not feel that early voting was an option. There is obviously
a difference not only between the city of St. Louis and Matt Blunt,
but also the 114 separate election authorities around the state."
Jackson
argued that Blunt is in support of early voting, but it is not
in state law.
"Early voting is not allowable by law. The Attorney General
would not take an opinion stating that it was otherwise and it
is our firm belief that the law is clear," said Jackson.
He said that "Mayor Slay is a very late entrance into the
process and I think he is playing a lot of catch up work in understanding
state election law."
But
Jim Gardner, Communications Director of the Missouri Democratic
Party, argued that Blunt has "an established track record
of having the courts coming in and telling him how to do his job."
"Obviously, the Democratic Party is in favor of making voting
accessible to as many residents as possible while Secretary of
State Matt Blunt is in favor of making voting easy and accessible
only to the people who are going to vote for him."
Jackson responded that Gardner's stance was reflective of partisan
politics.
 He
called Gardner's words, "typical election year rhetoric from
a paid party minion" and noted that "unlike [Mayor Slay],
Secretary Blunt wants voting for all voters. No other jurisdiction
[besides St. Louis] in the state is planning for early voting
on November 2."
Jackson
added that "Matt Blunt has introduced early voting into the
legislative process. The Mayor was nowhere to be found and we
would have loved to have had his support at that time."
For the debate to reach the courts, citizens will need to file
suit demanding implementation of the law.
"No legal action has been taken yet, but hopefully very soon.
We've got the lawyers looking at who the proper parties are and
how to best approach it," said Slay.
However, published reports Monday said U.S. Representative William
Lacy Clay Jr. of St. Louis was willing to join a lawsuit.
He
later told the St. Louis Dispatch that he would be willing to
be a plaintiff and that they could in court within the week.
As
of Wednesday morning, Attorney General Nixon had no knowledge
of a lawsuit.
Spokesman for Blunt Spence Jackson declined to comment on how
the secretary would respond to a lawsuit, but did warn, "It
goes without saying that to produce a new and different election
system will produce turmoil everywhere."
Jackson
did say that there needed to be legislative approval of early
voting.
But
while early voting remains a hot topic in St. Louis, it is unclear
if voters from other counties want it.
Darrell Curl, chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party
near Kansas City, said that he thought voters were waiting to
see what happens in St. Louis.
"I don't think there is a big push to do anything just yet,
at least not to my knowledge. I think that the earlier [you can
vote] the better. I think that is a step in the right direction,"
he said.
Last week, The National Journal stated on its daily online publication
"Hotline" that early voting has traditionally helped
Democrats, especially with younger voters who tend to be hard
to reach on Election Day.
President George Bush won the state in 2000 by 3-percentage point.
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Sunday found that John Kerry
and President Bush are tied at 48 percent each.
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By Meghann Farnsworth, Online NewsHour
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