Election Complaints Spark Probes Across Country
Authorities across the country were looking into a range of complaints about alleged dirty tricks Tuesday as millions of voters headed to the polls.
Here's a roundup of some complaints and investigations we've heard about:
Minnesota
The county attorney in Brainerd, Minn., is investigating an allegation that a group of mentally disabled individuals were brought to the courthouse to vote early and told to vote for Democrats, CBS News confirms.
New Hampshire
The state's attorney general got multiple complaints late last week that voters got robocalls telling them to vote early through a fraudulent website.
Los Angeles
The California secretary of state's office tells CBS News it has received complaints from Angelenos who received robocalls in Spanish telling them to vote Wednesday instead of Tuesday. The secretary of state's office does not have the actual recording.
Maryland
The state Republican Party says they have 30 complaints of voting machines "falsely selecting" Democrats. Deputy State Administrator Ross Goldstein of the Maryland secretary of state's office tells CBS News that they have gotten less than a hundred calls on this as well, but he blames "voter error" or un-calibrated machines. He said in each case that the voter has been able to correct their vote and submit an accurate ballot.
Kansas
The state attorney general's office is investigating robocalls made throughout Kansas Saturday to Democratic voters telling them that they should bring voter registration card and proof of home ownership to their polling station to vote Wednesday, the day after Election Day.
The office tells CBS News they have received "several calls" regarding the robocalls over the weekend and several Monday. Making calls of this kind, according to the attorney general's office -- is now a state felony. This happened back in 2000, and the office says it took their office about two weeks to track it to a candidate for state legislature.
Other Complaints
Democrats in Delaware said supporters of Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell cheered too loudly outside of polling places. CBS News projects O'Donnell's Democratic opponent Chris Coons will win that race.
South Carolina students at a historically black school reported they were told they couldn't vote Tuesday morning because their addresses did not match the addresses on their driver's licenses. The school's communications director told CBS News that this was just confusion with a few students and not voter intimidation.
CBS News Affiliate KYW-TV in Philadelphia reports that police were called to a scuffle at a South Philly polling station that some described as a "total madhouse." The fight was over who would act as a Republican inspector to oversee voting.
In Woodland Park, Colo., a complaint was made about a sign at a store saying "Dems Vote on November 3rd," but it was taken down early Tuesday.
Some New Yorkers have been complaining about a lack of privacy in the switch to new electronic voting machines as opposed to the big voting machines with curtains. Advocates said this is normal and not a real problem.