The Guardian: Ballot debacle predicted for November 4
A "perfect storm" could be building for US election day on November
4 because of a combination of sky-high voter interest, new ballot
machines and a shortage of poll staff, the independent Pew group warned
yesterday. The launch of the 77-page report
came as legal clashes over voter registration and hours-long queues
formed outside booths set up for early voting in states across the US.
Voting is now underway in 46 of the 50 states, though election day is
still almost a fortnight away.
Virginia, a battleground state,
said it will step up security at polling booths on November 4. Election
officials fear trouble because of passions aroused by the election, by
long queues, or by people being told they are not eligible to vote. Doug
Chapin, director of Pew's electionline.org, said: "People talk about
meltdown. It is over-optimistic to think that 130 million people can
vote and something does not go wrong ... We have spent eight years
sorting the plumbing, but on November 4 we are going to crank up the
system."
The excitement created by Barack Obama could result in a
record turnout, with African-Americans and young voters, both
previously less likely to vote, predicted to cast ballots in large
numbers this time round. New voters are registering in record numbers
in almost every state. Officials in Virginia recently ordered 200,000 more voter registration forms. Thousands
of lawyers are being recruited by Obama and John McCain to police
polling booths, offering advice to supporters denied the vote or
challenging the eligibility of rivals.
Yesterday's report,
Election preview 2008: what if we had an election and everyone came?,
says: "Eight years after the uncovered problems in the 2000 election
and more than five years after the creation of the Help America Vote
Act of 2002, millions of Americans will head to the polls on November 4
in what many are predicting will be the highest-turnout election in
recent memory.
"Like the infamous Nor'easter that sank the Andrea
Gail, another perfect storm may be brewing, only this one has the
potential to combine a record turnout with an insufficient number of
poll workers and a voting system still in flux."
Election officials are struggling in some places to recruit the tens of thousands of extra staff that will be needed. Another
problem for election officials is the electronic voting systems
introduced in many states after the "hanging chads" controversy in
Florida in 2000. The report notes that voting machines bought
only six years ago have been replaced in Florida, California and other
states after officials and Congress became concerned about security and
reliability. Some states and counties have returned to paper, but
with optical scanners that should theoretically allow for faster
counting. This amounts to the third change since 2000.
One of the
biggest flashpoints is voter registration, particularly in states such
as Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Missouri. Chapin
said there is fierce litigation in Indiana and Georgia, where new rules
require voters to show photo IDs. Republicans claim this it aimed at
preventing vote fraud, while Democrats argue it is a form of voter
suppression. The report identifies 12 states where there could be
problems on election day: Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Missouri,
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia, and
the district of Washington DC. Officials are encouraging early voting and absentee ballots to try to relieve the pressure on November 4.
