The word “election” is often associated with the words “waste” and “fraud.” In my appointment to the House Elections Committee, I have endeavored to clean up waste and fraud. This has been a hard fought battle.

This year is no exception. I trust local governments to know how many ballots to print. However, some in Jefferson City think that state government should dictate on these matters. I believe that state government cannot know what is happening in each county in each election. A “one size fits all” usually means “one size fits no one.”

The problems Florida had with counting the punch card ballots in the presidential election of 2000 prompted the federal government to pass a law essentially prohibiting punch cards for all states. How sad that, just because the state of Florida didn’t know how to handle punch cards, the rest of the country is being punished.

When we used punch cards, knowing how many ballots to print was not a problem because the unused cards could be used for future elections. Now that we have new technology, printing too many ballots is very expensive and inefficient. On top of that, the unused ballots must be properly destroyed with additional handling (shredded or incinerated) to reduce the possibility of fraud. This regretfully adds to the expense. While the punch cards cost pennies to use, the new printed ballots cost between 60 to 70 cents per ballot.

The number of paper ballots needed will decline as more voters choose to use the touch screen voting machines. Now that more voters are familiar with touch screens when using ATM’s and grocery store checkouts, many people are comfortable with voting using similar technology. The St. Louis County Board of Elections has informed me that, in the presidential primary, over 80 per cent of its voters used the touch screen. In the course of one year, an election authority possibly can save millions of taxpayers’ dollars by being spared the cost of printing wasted ballots.

Fortunately, two years ago, I was able to get an amendment onto a bill that would allow all charter counties to decide the appropriate number of ballots to print. The county knows the dynamics of each individual election and has a vested interest in printing adequate ballots. During the final stage, my amendment was stripped back to only exempt St. Charles County, but at least I had the satisfaction of knowing I had represented my county well. Since the passage of my amendment, St. Charles County has done a fine job and has never run out of ballots. As a result of this special amendment to this bill, our county was able to save millions of dollars.

Now, another storm is brewing over this issue. There is a movement to remove the special exemption for St. Charles. I am working on allowing all county clerks to use their own judgment on how many paper ballots are needed for an election. Having spent nearly nine years on the O’Fallon Board of Aldermen, I know that those closest to the people generally know how to govern best. My commitment will remain the same - to be a stalwart champion of self determination and a proponent of local control.

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Your thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think about this proposal. You can send me your opinion by clicking here: Cynthia Davis.

Calling All High School

Young Ladies

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Here is a great opportunity for any young lady who is a junior or senior in high school. The National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) is having an essay contest on women’s suffrage. My daughter entered this several years ago, and it was a fabulous experience.

The mission is connecting women leaders of today with women leaders of tomorrow.

Each year NFWL sponsors an essay contest. Winners receive financial help with college and attend NFWL's Annual Conference. At the Conference, these young ladies speak, receive leadership training, and network with lawmakers. For several winners in prior years, their NFWL scholarship made the difference in funding their attendance at college. Nearly all winners have found their passion for public leadership ignited or strengthened.

This year, the eleventh annual Bill of Rights Essay Contest of NFWL and the National Rifle Association (NRA) will award seven female high school juniors and seniors with a $3,000 college scholarship. The seven winners will receive a trip to the 2008 NFWL Annual Conference this fall in Puerto Rico. As a sponsoring legislator of a winning student, I agree to attend the entire conference with my student and will also receive a travel scholarship. The NFWL and NRA are proud to sponsor this contest on "The Great Enfranchisement: Women's Suffrage" to help seven young women attend college.

The application deadline is Tuesday, August 19th, 2008, by which date essays must be received in the NFWL office. If you fill out the application, make sure you state that Representative Cynthia Davis is your sponsor.

To download the application, click here: NFWL application form

Seminar on Muslim Issues

Three speakers will be discussing Muslim issues at Life Church in St. Peters on Saturday, April 12, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

According to Amani Mostafa, the purpose of this ministry is to become more aware of the Islamic agenda and to understand Muslims better in order to better minister to them. The church is located at 7575 Veterans Memorial Parkway in St. Peters. Lunch will be provided. If you need more information, call Amani Mostafa at 636-233-4059.

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Flags Give Us Information About Our Taxes

A visitor from Holland was chatting with his American friend and was jokingly explaining about the red, white and blue in the Netherlands flag. "Our flag symbolizes our taxes," he said. "We get red when we talk about them, white when we get our tax bill, and blue after we pay them."

"That's the same with us," the American said, "only we see stars, too."

This Capitol Report is a weekly newsletter by Representative Cynthia Davis, from the 19^th District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and district-wide issues.

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