LOTTERY TO DECIDE PLACES ON BALLOT

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County candidates who file for office on Feb. 29, the first day of filing for the 2000 election, will draw numbers to determine the order of placement on the ballot.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller said he decided to go to the lottery system this year to avoid having candidates and their surrogates stand in line for hours or even days in advance of the start of filing.

Candidates will draw numbers to determine the order that the names will appear on the ballot for a particular office.

Miller said the lottery only will be used for the first day of filing. After that, candidates will be listed on the ballot in the order that they file.

The filing period opens at 8 a.m. on Feb. 29 and ends March 28 at 5 p.m.

Seven county offices are up for election this year. They are the two associate commissioner positions, treasurer, assessor, public administrator, coroner and sheriff.

Most if not all of the incumbents are expected to seek re-election.

A circuit judgeship also is up for election this fall, but it is considered a state position. Candidates for judge have to file with the secretary of state.

Sheriff John Jordan, who plans to seek re-election, has no problem with the clerk's decision to use a lottery. "It will be about as fair as you can get," said Jordan. "It is the luck of the draw."

Jordan remembers standing in line at the county clerk's office to file for office. Candidates love to have their names at the top of the ballot for a particular office, he said.

Jordan said ballot position is only a factor in the August primary for both parties. Candidates in a contested primary race could get "a few more votes" if their names are first on the ballot for a particular office, he said.

Ballot position isn't an issue in the November general election since no more than one candidate for a particular party is listed for each office on the ballot, Jordan said.

The drawing of numbers to determine ballot placement began in 1996 with candidates for state office.

Secretary of State Bekki Cook pushed the idea in an effort to eliminate the practice of first-filers jockeying for position in line. In 1998, counties were allowed to follow suit. This year the practice was extended to local governments.

Secretary of State spokesman Jim Grebing said the practice likely will catch on with county election officials around the state. "We think eventually more will do it because it levels the playing field for first-day filers," he said.

The lottery method eliminates the practice of people sleeping in the courthouse to preserve their place in line.

Said Grebing, "You don't want an election to start off with chaos."