In Ohio, Voting Problems And High Turnout

Despite Glitches And Poor Weather, Officials Expect Record Turnout For A Primary

(AP)  Voting problems Tuesday in Ohio - including confusion over detachable tags on newly required paper ballots and a bogus bomb threat that halted voting - were minor compared with the long lines and poll worker confusion that plagued parts of the state in the past.

In trouble-prone Cuyahoga County, some people who voted in the primary that could put John McCain over the top and settle a fierce Democratic presidential nomination said they liked the switch to old-fashioned paper ballots because they were easier to fill out.

One glitch emerged in Cleveland, where Ohio's most populous county had just over two months to switch from a touch-screen electronic voting system with security issues to the printed ballots: some voters removed stubs that were meant for poll-worker handling.

The ballots were still valid, and it seemed doubtful stubs would enter the election lore alongside the notorious chads which held up vote-counting in Florida's disputed 2000 presidential election.

The Cuyahoga County elections board, working to improve an image tarnished by a recent history of lost ballots, absent or poorly trained poll workers and vote counts lasting through the week, sent out a notice that the stubs should be removed only by election workers.

In suburban Parma Heights, some midmorning voters said they had been instructed by poll workers to remove the stubs.

With 250,000 registered Democrats, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County could be critical to the Democratic primary campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The paper ballots promised simplicity but could mean slower counting.

Ohio's top elections official, Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat elected in 2006 with a promise to reform the system, wants 53 other Ohio counties that use electronic voting machines to switch to paper. For the primary she only required them to make paper ballots available to voters who ask for them.

Despite problems, Ohio voters ignored rain, hail and sleet in large enough numbers Tuesday that officials expected record turnout for a primary.

Brunner predicted as many as 4 million voters, 52 percent of Ohio's registered voters, would cast ballots. Many got a head start before Tuesday by using absentee ballots. This was the first presidential primary in Ohio that didn't require voters to give a reason for using absentee ballots.

Turnout was steady around the state, but not so heavy that long lines were a problem, said Brunner spokesman Patrick Gallaway.

Rain was a bigger issue. A least 10 counties with flooding problems - Jefferson, Adams, Harrison, Hocking, Perry, Pike, Athens, Vinton, Guernsey and Ross - asked the state for permission to move voting sites located near water-covered roads, Gallaway said.

Ice caused power outages at a few polling locations in Knox County, but backup generators were keeping voting machines up and running, said Elections Clerk Kim Horn.

[erasmus6]

You people call yourselves the GREATEST Nation but your voting system is probably the worst in the world. There is major incompetence.

[mespe-2009]

I voted yesterday. I live in Ohio. I did not remove the stub that has "DO NOT REMOVE STUB" printed in large type, twice. Anyone that can read should be allowed to vote. Anyone that can''t read, burn their voter card please,,,

[catlynlawson]

i live here in Ohio where we have horrible ice, and 15 of our voter locations have lost power and have had to go to paper, so how is it going to be an accurate count??

[barbaraf4]

There are *always* voting problems in Ohio.

[missglo]

So are we suppose believe that the numbers in Ohio are true for Hillary? How can CBS project the winner, when all the numbers are not in? I smell a RAT.

[candide777]

No surprises here. You can get a more fair election in Iraq than you can in Ohio or Florida.