A variety of old problems will combine with an expected larger than usual vote to cast November's vote in doubt.
First, new technology in many states.
At least 11 states will use new voting equipment as the nation shifts away from touch-screen machines and to the paper ballots of optical scanners, which will be used by more than 55 percent of voters.
About half of all voters will use machines unlike the ones they used in the last presidential election ...
Next, vote databases have been purged since the last election. Are you sure you're still eligible to vote?
... More than half of the states will use new statewide databases to verify voter registration. ... With Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy expected to attract many people who have never encountered a voting machine, voting experts and election officials say they are worried that the system may buckle under the increased strain. ... Recent purges of voters from registration lists and the influx of registrations may result in names erroneously being dropped and eligible voters showing up at the polls to find their names not on the rolls. (Advocacy groups have encouraged voters to check their registration with election officials at least two weeks before the polls open.)
State budgets have been cut. Not enough poll workers.
“I’m concerned about the weak spots,” said Rosemary E. Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the United States Election Assistance Commission, which oversees voting. “So much depends on whether there will be enough poll workers, whether they are trained enough and whether their state and county election directors give them contingency plans and resources to handle the unexpected.”
Too many changes in redesigned systems and ballots. A lot of new people in charge.
... The high level of turnover in the people who run state and local elections was also a concern. More than two-thirds of the election directors in the nation’s 50 largest counties were new to the office in 2004, and the number may be even higher now, according to Election Data Services, a Washington consulting firm that tracks voting trends.
Many voters heading to the polls in November will receive a paper ballot for the first time. The ballots are counted by optical scanners and provide a more reliable paper trail than touch-screen machines in case of a dispute or a malfunction.
Double-check your registration soonest!
The new computerized databases, required by a 2002 federal law, were meant to provide uniformity in how states run elections. By coordinating with other state lists, officials can more easily remove from the rolls people who have died, changed residence or been convicted of felonies, to help reduce fraud. But the purges also occur with little oversight, and errors can be significant.
It's looking like the same-old, same-old. 2000 is still with us.
Here we go again
It's the same old song
You're thinking you're gon' do me
Like the other ones before, baby
Here we go again
It's the same old song (Same old rhythm)
Ooh, straighten up your act
Or else I'm walking out the door ...
