As an expected record number of voters flocked to the polls this morning, there were already early reports of scattered voting problems, including machine malfunctions and long lines.
Valerie Vazquez-Rivera from the New York City Board of Elections said the city is experiencing "unprecedented" voter turnout, with some people lining up outside polling places as early as 4 a.m. Long lines were also reported in Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Iowa.
The Associated Press reported that voters needed to use paper ballots because of problems with electronic voting machines in some New Jersey precincts, and in Virginia, voters endured longer than usual waits in one instance because, poll workers said, the head of a branch library had overslept.
Eight years after Florida's election debacle, casting a valid vote can mean navigating a patchwork of sometimes baffling state and federal election laws, harried volunteer poll workers and new voting machinery. Add to that an expected record turnout, including many first-time voters and millions who will vote on unfamiliar machinery, and a myriad of problems -- more than the usual polling place snafus and fraud claims -- are inevitable.
The McCain campaign said it has heard from field offices that some Republican election board workers in Pennsylvania have been thrown out by the local judge of elections. Ben Porritt, a McCain spokesman, released a statement saying, "Election board officials guard the legitimacy of the election process and the idea that Republicans are being intimidated and banned for partisan purposes does not allow for an honest and open election process."
The problems are expected to continue throughout the day. Whether they will matter remains to be seen. If the election is a landslide, a few hundred votes here or there won't matter much. But if the race is close, the court decisions and recounts could play a major role in the election.
Election experts expect that many voters may face poorly-maintained voter registration rolls, partisan challenges to their identities, broken voting machines, long lines and machine and ballot shortages. Thousands of lawyers from both camps have fanned out across the country to keep an eye on possible voting irregularities, and to jockey for political advantage.
Lawyers for both parties could file legal challenges on provisional and absentee ballots, the expertise of poll workers, the efficiency of voting machines and the hours of operation at polling places. Here are some key voting issues and states to watch for as Election Day gets under way.
Will the System Be Overwhelmed?
A flood of voters is expected at the polls today. If the long lines of early voters are any indication, the record numbers will strain voting systems, particularly in states, such as Pennsylvania, that don't allow early voting.
The expected high turnout could mean hours-long waits, particularly in urban areas, strained voting machines, making breakdowns more likely, and complaints that some people were preventing from voting.
All this could lead to Election Day lawsuits asking to keep the polls open longer, which Republicans are expected to challenge. Some might chafe at extending hours for some counties and not for others. Brenda Wright, legal director of the voting rights group Demos, told ABC News last week, "The very fact that you may have some voters getting through polling places in 15 minutes, while other voters are having to wait for hours, creates a potential equal protection problem."
The exact definition of the end of a line could create its own legal problem. If significant numbers of voters are unable to vote -- especially if the long lines are predominantly in minority neighborhoods -- lawyers may try to challenge the fairness of the voting system, as has already happened in Virginia.
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