By JOHN SKIPPER, Of The Globe Gazette

MASON CITY - Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline said Thursday that county residents who registered to vote at a state driver's license station this year may have a problem on Election Day.

The problem is that a computer glitch last summer eliminated some of the records. And if the county auditors don't have a record of a voter registration, that person's vote will be "challenged" on Tuesday, said Kline.

A special board meets after the election to go over each challenged ballot to see if it should be allowed.

"If voters who registered at a driver's license station did not subsequently receive written confirmation from this office of the registration, that person's name may not be listed in the voter register at the polls on Nov. 7," he said.

Kline said anyone who registered at a driver's license station should call his office at 421-3027 before Election Day. "If you are not listed on the county voter register, our office will work with the secretary of state and Department of Transportation offices to correct the error.

More than 5,000 Cerro Gordo County residents have voted early or have requested absentee ballots - and the figure could hit 6,000 by Election Day, said Kline.

That would assure a voter turnout of about 20 percent before the polls even open on Tuesday - but there's a catch.

"Historically, with the kind of turnout we're expecting, we can also expect that about 500 absentee ballots that we've sent out won't be sent back in," he said. "It can happen for any number of reasons. People forget to mail them or become ill or decide not to vote, for example."

This year, more than 1,400 absentee ballots that have been sent out have not yet been returned - and Kline expressed concern because there are only four days until election day.

"In order to be counted for the Nov. 7 general election, an absentee ballot must be physically received in the office of the county auditor by the time the polls close at 9 p.m. on election night," said Kline.

"The only other ballots that will be considered are those that bear a postmark by the U.S. Postal Service dated before the day of election - and which are received by the time of the official canvass of the elections by the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors," he said.

An absentee ballot may be returned to the courthouse in person or by someone the voter trusts, said Kline. An absentee vote cannot be delivered to a polling place.

The auditor's office on the first floor of the courthouse is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday for the convenience of early voters.

http://www.globegazette.com/local/Ni4.shtml

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 03, 2000