Voting problems in city may bring court challenge
By Jo Mannies
Of the Post-Dispatch
The late Gov. Mel Carnahan appears to have achieved in death what he
sought in life.
Incomplete election returns show Carnahan, who died in a plane crash
Oct. 16, narrowly defeating the nemesis he had long sought to oust, Sen.
John Ashcroft, R-Mo.
At 1:20 a.m., Carnahan held a slight lead statewide - 50 percent to 49
percent. "Carnahan has won. The race is over," said Jim Grebing,
spokesman for the Missouri secretary of state's office. "He's rock-solid
victorious."
That was due in part to his stronger showing in the city of St. Louis and
St. Louis County. In the county - the state's largest bloc of votes -
Carnahan had 262,896 votes, to 220,128 for Ashcroft.
In the city of St. Louis, Carnahan held more than a 3-1 edge in partial
returns: 67,315 votes to 18,293. But Republicans were threatening to
challenge some of the later votes, which have yet to be reported,
because the city's polls were open about 45 minutes after the state's 7
p.m. closing time. A state appeals court blocked a Democratic effort to
keep the city polls open later.
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