Blattner unseats Clark in hotly contested recorder's race

Drew Blattner was voted Cape Girardeau County's next recorder of deeds in one of the county's most contentious August races.

The local archivist, who garnered about 60 percent of the vote, will take the seat from his opponent, Scott R. Clark, who will complete his first term in the office this year.

Throughout their campaigns, the two had multiple disagreements about records accessibility. Allegations also were made about remodeling in the recorder's office shortly after Clark took office, a move he defended as necessary. Clark cited ripped and unglued carpeting and shelving options not conducive to the long-term protection of the records.

Undoubtedly, the biggest issue in the race was public access. Blattner said the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center stopped giving the public access to original marriage records at the request of the recorder's office, even though the center had provided the service for the past 13 years.

Clark said closing off access to those records was important for preservation purposes. The more they're handled, the more susceptible they are to damage, he said. It's a policy maintained by other recorder of deeds offices in counties across Missouri.

But Blattner said cutting off that access meant those interested in genealogical research were missing out on historical information that's only available with the original marriage licenses.

The day the archive center could no longer allow public to access those records was the day he decided to run for the office, Blattner said in a previous interview with the Southeast Missourian.

In a phone interview Tuesday night after the unofficial results released by Cape Girardeau County showed Blattner as the winner, he said he wanted to thank Clark for "running a good race against me." He also said he has plans to make the office more inviting to visitors and make records more readily available.

"That's why I got in this race and that's what I'm here for," he said.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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