Voters Face Long Lines, Machine Glitches

With Likely Record Turnout Straining Election Centers, Voters Contend With Hours-Long Waits, Voting Machine Breakdowns

(CBS/ AP)  A six-and-a-half hour long wait in Missouri. A four-hour wait in Manhattan. A "mess" in Virginia.

Lines stretched around buildings and crossed city blocks as people waited to cast ballots Tuesday in the historic presidential race between Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain. While election officials said voting was going relatively smoothly overall, touchscreen voting machines malfunctioned in some precincts while others faced a variety of problems.

The biggest trouble, however, was big crowds. Many folks seemed to take it in stride.

"People are happy and smiling," Sen. Benjamin Cardin said as he voted at a Maryland school. "People are very anxious to be voting. They really think they are part of history, and they are."

Reports are coming in from election protection groups suggesting that Virginia, a key battleground state, is having the most issues, with 20-plus cities and counties having serious problems: machines breaking down, substituted paper ballots being stuffed into suitcases, boxes and duffle bags (with poll officials telling voters they will be counted later), unbearably long lines, frustrated voters walking away. The situation has some voters worrying that their votes won’t be counted, reports the CBS News Investigative Unit.

In the East, electronic machine glitches forced some New Jersey voters to cast paper ballots. In New York, eager voters started lining up before dawn, prompting erroneous reports that some precincts weren't opening on time.

In the West, Californians also faced long lines, but voting went smoothly. In Orange County, south of Los Angeles, about 400 people were on hand to treat problems with the county's all-electronic voting system, said Brett Rowley of the registrar's office.

"We've got paper ballots as a backup," he said.

Heavy rain plunged a handful of Los Angeles polling places into the dark, forcing some to move voting booths outside until electricity was restored. Voting didn't stop.

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Click here for a roundup of voting problems reported across the country.

---

Election officials predicted turnout rates as high as 80 percent in California, the country's most populous state and the highest holder of electoral votes. In Virginia, State Board of Elections executive secretary Nancy Rodrigues said she expected 75 percent of the state's registered voters to cast ballots by Tuesday night.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell urged voters to "hang in there" as state and country officials braced for a huge turnout in that hotly contested state. More than 160 people were lined up when the polls opened at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown. "I could stay an hour and a half at the front end or three hours at the back end," joked Ronald Marshall, a black Democrat.

Hundreds converged on polling precincts in Missouri, another crucial battleground state. Norma Storms, a 78-year-old resident of Raytown, said her driveway was filled with cars left by voters who couldn't get into nearby parking lots.

"I have never seen anything like this in all my born days," she said. "I am just astounded."

In some places the wait was longer than two hours.

"Well, I think I feel somehow strong and energized to stand here even without food and water," said Alexandria, Va., resident Ahmed Bowling, facing a very long line. "What matters is to cast my vote."

Some voting advocates worried that - tolerant voters or no - the nation's myriad election systems could stagger later in the day, when people getting off work hit the polls.

"We have a system that wasn't ready for huge turnout," said Tova Wang of government watchdog group Common Cause. "People have to wait for hours. Some people can do that. Some people can't. This is not the way to run a democracy."

Ohio, which experienced extreme voting delays in the last hours of the 2004 election, had some jammed paper problems in Franklin County. "We're taking care of things like that," said elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli. "But there's nothing major or systemic."

Perhaps the most bizarre barrier to voting was a truck that hit a utility pole in St. Paul, Minn.'s Merriam Park neighborhood. The accident knocked power out for about 90 minutes to two polling locations. Joe Mansky, Ramsey County's elections manager, said voting continued at those sites.

Election judges said the ballots were kept secure at one of the locations until the power was restored and the ballots could be run through an electronic machine, while a backup generator kicked in at the other site.

Late Monday, McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electoral board, trying to force the state to count late-arriving military ballots from overseas. No hearing has been set.

McCain, the Republican candidate and a POW during the Vietnam War, asked a federal judge to order state election officials to count absentee ballots mailed from abroad that arrive as late as Nov. 14.

Tuesday, the judge ruled he will hear the lawsuit on Nov. 10. He ordered election officials to keep late-arriving ballots until then.

Lawsuits have become common fodder in election battles. The 2000 recount meltdown in Florida was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court.

What is uncommon about Tuesday's contest is the sheer number of voters expected to descend on more than 7,000 election jurisdictions across the country. Voter registration numbers are up 7.3 percent from the last presidential election.

[credibility2]

The good thing is that more people finally woke up and took their citizenship seriously and registered to vote or finally voted for the first time even though they were able to vote in previous elections. The bad thing is that the latter have been lax in their citizenship and shirking their responsibility as a citizen, and only now decided to vote when it pleased them; citizenship requires active participation whether you agree with something or someone or not. A good yet sad commentary on many citizens and our right to vote.

[patrik1974]

I am greatly disappointed to hear that already there have been issues related to voters receiving incorrect ballots, voting places not opening on time, not enough ballots and computer malfunctions. For a nation that presents its democracy as the world model, any issue on Election Day is unacceptable.

[mecury69]

"Sounds like a load of disenfranchised hogwash to me!

**** and VOTE!

Posted by DaVicar1 at 12:16 PM : Nov 04, 2008"

I was 10th in line this morning and the optical scanner was not working so my paper ballot was put into an emergency box for scanning when the machine is fixed. I find it unacceptable that equipment is not working as well but trust the back up procedures.

But not the best feeling to not see it counted in my presence.

Maybe you should try **** dork?

[tincup356]

no matter who wins , we the people lose, thanks to the great lobby dollar.Mark my word , Congress is not through taking money for the bailout....its quickly becoming the SELLOUT.Within the next few days you will see lobbyists lining up from every industry, to have Congress start passing out the money.

[westvoter]

Mr. Keteyian,
I am not sure why you need to point out Barack Obama''s "color" when you don''t point out John McCain''s? (..."historic race between black Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.") Also not sure why it matters that one of the voters interviewed was black--"joked Ronald Marshall, a black Democrat.")Since you don''t mention any other race but black, makes you wonder, "why mention race at all?" It is distracting and unprofessional. I guess I''ll just assume that you did not have time to show this to your editor before posting this morning, but next time I''ll just assume CBS news is just not that professional.

[brothergrymm]

I have the solution. Actually, to give credit where it is deserved, I copied my idea from the republicans. See, all you gotta do is make it even harder to vote. Oh, I don''''t know, TWO picture ideas required, along with proof of ownership of a vehicle and property. That way, the white people who vote and have money will be the only ones, and even if they turn out 100%, so what? Polesters will still be bored to death.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by hennighg at 11:05 AM : Nov 04, 2008



Oh certainly, throw the race card. But guess what, there are a lot of successful black people who own homes/cars who would take offense to people who make a broad generalization (Its called a fallacy) that a black person can''t move up in the world. The only thing keeping the low income people down at the bottom is their willingness to abuse the system. In the United States anyone can move up through hard work.

[alien_view]

Being reported: Why are the Black Panthers being allowed to stand outside of polling places, when they are not voting. They are there for one thing. Intimidatation and not of whites folks. Their silent message is Obama or else.

[listenupfool]

One of the Panthers lives there and is actually a poll official. The guy that the police ran off was standing at the door, tapping a nightstick menacingly. He reportedly stated that "noone is going to stop a black man from being President"

Look up black panthers blocking election poll on you tube.

[ethiopia93]

When I went to vote today I was told I couldn''t. Why? B/c the people (Obama volunteers) who took my registration form waited two months to send it in so it would get to the Board of Elections too late. Attempting to prevent someone from voting in my book is treason and punishable by life in prison. Sadly for Obama I have had the last laugh b/c I put up a real fuss and threatened to bring in the national and international press and give endless interviews in front of Geo. C Marshall High School in Falls Church, VA about not being allowed to vote. Guess what? Magically I was allowed to vote. And instead of voting for Obama, which was my plan, McCain got my vote. You don''t get lower as a citizen than when you try to prevent someone from voting. Glad I found out who Obama really was before I voted.

[alien_view]

Being reported: Republican precint workers being kept from voter validation tables in Democratic precints. No voter validation by the opposite party observers. If this is not the lowest point in American history, I don''t know what is. This much hate and evil unchecked. Virtually no government oversite, and liberal judges making laws to favor their candidate.

[burgess1968]

I like how it''s pointed out that Barry''s black, too. In other elections, this could hurt the "black", but here I believe it''s used to help him.

And what "problems"? I''m tired of the "anticipated" problems. Much publicity was made over all of the long lines here in Florida, too. It''s simple math- we had 10...yes, 10 polling places open for early voting in Orange County. A ton of folks wanted to vote, and the result was the 3 hour lines all saw on television.

But guess what? Today, we had 262 polling places open. Care to guess what kind of line I faced? You got it- it took me 10 minutes to vote, and the delay was when a guy kept trying to look me up under my middle name instead of my last.

All the media''s doing is trying to suppress the WHITE vote this time...

[bb543]

What, CBS ? No coverage of the incident in Philly ?
I would think Black Panthers standing in line trying
to block and intimidate voters should be front-page news. Maybe you''ll run the story after the polls
close, eh ?

[FHMullane]

Our entire process needs to be redone. We should have regional primaries NE SE SW NW CENTRAL.. This way the candidates don''t have to fly such long distances.. border cities get the ads from neighboring states but don''t vote at that time... It is a mess. AND get rid of delegates.. Popular vote. Each state would still have their own autonomy but the states in a particular region would vote on the same day.

We need to do away with the Electoral College... it changes the way the candidates campaign and not for the better.

The entire time to do primaries and final election need to be shorted. With computers and TV there is no need to drag it out. Back in the old days where communication and transportation was slow it probably took this kind of time to get "the message" out.

[lewiston14]

So it goes from hanging chad to paper dust and lint and software. Didn''t the companies that make these machines ever run any testing? If the race is close it will take months to figure out who won what and in a worst case may require an entire re vote. From what I have been reading they run the same ballot through some scanners and it logs different people every time and no one at the polling places has any ability to see that.

[canyoutellme-2009]

When I went to vote today I was told I couldn''''t. Why? B/c the people (Obama volunteers) who took my registration form waited two months to send it in so it would get to the Board of Elections too late. Attempting to prevent someone from voting in my book is treason and punishable by life in prison. Sadly for Obama I have had the last laugh b/c I put up a real fuss and threatened to bring in the national and international press and give endless interviews in front of Geo. C Marshall High School in Falls Church, VA about not being allowed to vote. Guess what? Magically I was allowed to vote. And instead of voting for Obama, which was my plan, McCain got my vote. You don''''t get lower as a citizen than when you try to prevent someone from voting. Glad I found out who Obama really was before I voted.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by ethiopia93 at 02:15 PM : Nov 04, 2008
+ report abuse

Hahhaahaah you''re so full of it.

#1. Your story sounds too contrived
#2. Holding Obama accountable for the alleged misdeeds of people who took your registration form is plain stupid.
#3. Voting for McCain over this? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. What sense would that make? Oh, to get back at OBAMA for doing this to you? HAHAHAAHAHAH

wow... you were definitely never an Obama supporter, that much is certain. Obama supporters are much smarter than that.

[canyoutellme-2009]

So it goes from hanging chad to paper dust and lint and software. Didn''''t the companies that make these machines ever run any testing? If the race is close it will take months to figure out who won what and in a worst case may require an entire re vote. From what I have been reading they run the same ballot through some scanners and it logs different people every time and no one at the polling places has any ability to see that.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by lewiston14 at 02:46 PM : Nov 04, 2008
+ report abuse

You''re not kiddin''! Here in Fremont, California, the polling place''s scanner was "broken" so they made everyone fill out a provisional ballot envelope and we all had to do paper ballots and put it in the envelope and put that in the big box. They had someone come fix the scanner but it continually kept failing. GOTTA LOVE IT!!

You''d think they would TEST this stuff before putting it to use, eh?

[wlmrtpatriot]

So, why was the black panther party members allowed to parade up and down in front the election polls? That video is all over the internet. Foul!!

[canyoutellme-2009]

What, CBS ? No coverage of the incident in Philly ?
I would think Black Panthers standing in line trying
to block and intimidate voters should be front-page news. Maybe you''''ll run the story after the polls
close, eh ?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by bb543 at 02:38 PM : Nov 04, 2008
+ report abuse

Maybe, just maybe, they want to get the real FACTS together FIRST before reporting such things. Remember little miss McCain supporter who etched the B in her OWN face? Drudge and Fox reported it first without verifying the FACTS first... blew up in their faces ... could happen again. Better safe than sorry

[shanev137]

Why can''t there ever be voter suppression were I live.

I''d love to give a good beat down to someone trying to prevent me from voting.

[srz25]

HEY EVERYBODY IN NC, PA, FL, CO, VA, AND AZ VOTE FOR OBAMA!!!

I WANT A TOTAL, UTTER BLOWOUT MONOPOLY!!!

yeah hi, do you believe a judge should go to prison for attempting to rule that attempted murder by forcible suffocation not only isn''''t a crime at all in florida, it isn''''t a tort at all in florida, in fact it''''s a medical procedure, for which priviledge i''''m forced to give the state my whole life savings?

doesn''''t that sound bad?

this is a real lawsuit, orange co. case # 2003 ca 5314. i am totally unrepresented, haven''''t been able to find a lawyer in 7 years. the judge is cynthia mackinnon, and if i could fire her i would have fired her four years ago. after all this time i still have no clue whether she is republican or democrat.

AND, EVERYBODY

CHECK OUT http://jail4judges.com

AND ESPECIALLY

http://floridajail4judges.
org

[fox77_99]

This is shameful Republican voter repression

We call ourselves a democracy but still have shameful voter suppression by corrupt Republicans. If voters have to stand in ridiculously long lines, especially in battleground states, many citizens can''t wait that long and will be disenfranchised from voting.

Oregon has 100% mail-in voting and Washington State will soon have 100% mail-in voting too. This is much better than the current mess we see in other states. First you can complete your ballot at your leisure with all the information in front of you. Second there is a paper backup which can be independently scanned in close elections to verify the winner. This proved very valuable in Washington State''s 2004 governors race where less than 200 votes separated the winner from the loser.

We desperately need voting reform in the United States so citizens are not disenfranchised from voting.

See http://Democracy-Now.us

[fox77_99]

This is shameful Republican voter repression

We call ourselves a democracy but still have shameful voter suppression by corrupt Republicans. If voters have to stand in ridiculously long lines, especially in battleground states, many citizens can''t wait that long and will be disenfranchised from voting.

Oregon has 100% mail-in voting and Washington State will soon have 100% mail-in voting too. This is much better than the current mess we see in other states. First you can complete your ballot at your leisure with all the information in front of you. Second there is a paper backup which can be independently scanned in close elections to verify the winner. This proved very valuable in Washington State''s 2004 governors race where less than 200 votes separated the winner from the loser.

We desperately need voting reform in the United States so citizens are not disenfranchised from voting.

See http://Democracy-Now.us

[bks59]

it is a shame to hear about so many voter problems, i guess i am spoiled living in MN. We have same day voter registration, absentee voting, paper ballots read by optical scanners, among the highest voting participation in the country and virtually no problems in the twenty years i have voting here.

If it can work here why not everywhere else?

[barbaraf4]

Glitches happen with every Presidential election. Now, just like last time, they have 4 years to fix it!

[deathofusa]

Why can''''t there ever be voter suppression were I live.

I''''d love to give a good beat down to someone trying to prevent me from voting.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by shanev137 at 03:14 PM : Nov 04, 2008


Because there is no such thing. It''s all in there stupid little minds. They are the perpetual victims.

[hondacivic5-2009]

As a Canadian watching the US Election enter its final stage, I am dumbfounded to see that the problems with people voting and having their votes counted, problems that occurred in 2000 when your current president beat Al Gore have still not been resolved. Seeing what is happening in Virginia and Florida, the potential for the same abuse exists. Will the front runner lose simply because of a horribly run system which prevents everyone from casting their vote or having their votes counted once they are cast?

If these problems occurred in a backwater country, the first response from the US would be to send billions of dollars to that country to ensure they obtained the best, most up to date equipment available to ensure that everyone''s "democratic rights" were protected. How does the best country in the world (next to Canada, anyway) have the same problems that it had 8 years ago in enabling its voters to get out and exercise their democratic rights?

The USA will lose so much credibility on the world stage if those same problems occur again this year that it will never be able to hold sway in any dialogue about elections anywhere in the world, ever again. Americans who were hesitant to get out and vote will likely never vote again.

Good luck to all of you, and God Bless America (after 8 years with George W. Bush in the Oval Office, you need it).

[deathofusa]

I was 10th in line this morning and the optical scanner was not working so my paper ballot was put into an emergency box for scanning when the machine is fixed. I find it unacceptable that equipment is not working as well but trust the back up procedures.

But not the best feeling to not see it counted in my presence.

Maybe you should try **** dork?
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by mecury69 at 12:57 PM : Nov 04, 2008


And whose fault is that? Oh, I forgot, whities.

[deathofusa]

You know, you would think, with all the money Obama spent 1/2 a billion dollars, he could have this race in his pocket. Wow. That makes me feel pretty good. Means - no matter how much money you throw at people, if you s u c k, you s u c k. Wow, my faith in humanity has been restored.

[gmcnally2]

Like the guy on Saturday Night Live says, ''FIX IT!''

If I can register my car and we can bank online we can surely vote online. Figure out how to make it secure and just get it done. It is ridiculous. We could have a 90% voter turnout that way, with no lines. I think that makes people in DC afraid, or it would be done already.

[hannity2012]

CNN is so PC, that cant even say Black Panther. There headline is Man asked to leave polling place. Pathetic Jounalism!!!

A man wearing what appeared to be a black outfit with a beret and holding a nightstick was asked by police to leave a polling location in Philadelphia Tuesday, according to Philadelphia County Board of Elections Supervisor, Bill Rubin.

Rubin says the man left without incident. He says another man wearing similar attire had a poll watcher certificate and was allowed to remain at the polling site at 1221 Fairmont Avenue

[burgess1968]

Hmmm..idea for melnnyc....You can always move to Alaska- then YOU can get a check....

[bobnjersey]

[Lines stretched around buildings and crossed city blocks as people waited to cast ballots Tuesday in the historic presidential race between Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain. While election officials said voting was going relatively smoothly overall, touchscreen voting machines malfunctioned in some precincts while others faced a variety of problems. ]

it''s not a smooth process if people are waiting in lines for hours.

[lewiston14]

" we can surely vote online. Figure out how to make it secure and just get it done. It is ridiculous. We could have a 90% voter turnout that way, with no lines. I think that makes people in DC afraid, or it would be done already.

Posted by gmcnally2

GMC: I agree with you 100% The problem many do not have a computer, Google is tracking every key you type and 90% of people have not got a clue what anti virus software is or have not updated it from day one of ownership. The idea is fine but they have to figure out how to keep the 100,000 scrip kiddies out of the loop.

[missingamerica]

I''m writing my Congressmen about this .. this is ludicrous!!!!!!!!!

Posted by jcnbma1 at 05:00 PM : Nov 04, 2008

It is about the saddest thing that you could write about America: We cannot do voting - the linchpin of our democracy and the democracy that we try to "spread" - right.

[beader59]

Solve the problems and go to mail in voting like Oregon. No one should have to wait hours in the rain to vote. I truly believe there is less chance of corruption as well.

[deathofusa]

I think what they should do is give each registered voter a card like your bank card with a pin. Then you can vote electronically at certain locations. Simple.

[burgess1968]

The idea of mail-in voting would be great EXCEPT for the opportunity of widespread fraud. I may be wrong, but it seems like the areas where it''s worked have been under-represented in terms of minorities. When they''re thrown in, there''s more opportunity to "suppress" them (using their words) or for them to defraud the system (my words).

There''s a lot to be said for someone having to appear at a polling place and present a valid ID allowing them to vote. Florida''s "No match, no vote" is a great idea that''d be usurped by a totally mailed-in ballot system.

[bobnjersey]

[Here in Gods Country no one was voting for Obama.]
[Posted by sir22581 at 05:18 PM : Nov 04, 2008]

well ... as they say in gods country ... everyone has their cross to bear.

[lewiston14]

beader59 You also have a great idea. There is always going to be some corruption no matter what method is used.

Steve it is ludicrous:

sir22581: No one gives a rat about what you vote for. What matters is me, Steve, beaders and everybody else. Not some hung up town in the middle of no where.

[legacyabq]

How is it possible that precincts are having problems with voting machines?? After 2000, with 8 YEARS to improve methods, not to mention we have known for MONTHS this election would be big..
Here in New Mexico, we get a paper ballot, fill in the little circles with a pen, and everyone feeds their ballots into ONE machine, which counts or rejects the ballot, ON THE SPOT.. If there is a problem, you just re-cast.
Its simple and fool-proof.
AND there is a paper trail.
How hard is it to just upgrade the nations voting technology? What is the big freakin deal??

I dont trust touch-screen and computer voting, it''s madness to vote with no verifiable paper trail in systems with PROPRIETARY software.. Its too easy to cheat, lie, and steal this way, regardless of whose "side" your on..
If I dont show up to vote by seven, too bad for me.. So why is McCain suing to let military ballots be counted till 2 weeks from now??
As long as they are post-dated by today, FINE..
But if they''re late, too freaking bad: they gotta play by the same rules we all do.

[ongelooflijk-2009]

Obama Supporters: Let''s hope in the process but take nothing for granted! We must all be vigilant at the polls today! If anyone sees evidence of election fraud or voter suppresion make sure to contact The Raw Story Election Fraud Reporting Hotline so that all incidents are documented 1-866-our vote or 1-866-my vote1. Also notify any poll watchers who may be present as well as the media. We know Barack is significantly ahead in all the major polls but that doesn''t mean that McCain and the GOP won''t try to steal the election as happened in 2000. Be especially cynical of any reports of McCain ''just edging out'' Obama for the victory, especially if it''s in the wee, wee hours of the morning when everyone is asleep----My point is that It''s highly improbable/unlikely that McCain can win this election at all, considering all the poll(s) numbers Obama is putting up coupled with the fact that we supporters will indeed be putting out the vote! Also, go to www.LibertytreeFDR.org and sign the pledge to join the Nov.,5 peaceful, nation-wide pro-democracy,voter assembly protests in the event this stolen election scenario actually plays out. No More Stolen Elections! God Bless You one and all and pass the word around!

[legacyabq]

"All this Socialism talk from ObieBoy is BS."

WHAT socialism talk, what ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT????!?!?
Enough already!! Just shut up about this!
Obama is not a socialist, but YOU ARE an idiot..

[steeepe]

We need election monitors from Europe and Canada to make sure that our elections are run fairly, not to mention uniform, unhackable voting machines with paper receipts. Not too much to ask....

[legacyabq]

Duh, yeah, we Obama supporters cant read, er, uh, duh..

Why dont you troll somewhere else

[legacyabq]

Hehehe
OK

Well, it bothers me that people throw around these political terms like socialist and they really know almost nothing about them.
Anybody who doesn''t nurse at the Limbaugh teat of thought-identity must be a commie right??
Ludicrous, pathetic, and sad..
Hopefully, Obama will help spearhead a new ideology regarding education-improvement, and we can see the dawning of a new age of American Civic Responsibility, American Pride, and EDUCATION..
A lot of the people lurking around the Internet sure could use some lessons in critical thinking and lessons on how to conduct civil discourse, where things are DISCUSSED...
I know, I called someone an idiot, sorry, it was a rare slip of my temper, but they were just asking for it..
God''s country? What? Socilist? Huh?
Read a book for chrissakes, not just THAT one

[mairin27]

Early polls have Barack Obama leading, but that''''s expected to change when the white people get off work and go and vote..


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by swensbckcuf at 05:50 PM : Nov 04, 2008

Hey buttmunch there are plenty of white people voting for Obama.

[fox77_99]

This is shameful Republican voter repression

We call ourselves a democracy but still have shameful voter suppression by corrupt Republicans. If voters have to stand in ridiculously long lines, especially in battleground states, many citizens can''t wait that long and will be disenfranchised from voting.

Oregon has 100% mail-in voting and Washington State will soon have 100% mail-in voting too. This is much better than the current mess we see in other states. First you can complete your ballot at your leisure with all the information in front of you. Second there is a paper backup which can be independently scanned in close elections to verify the winner. This proved very valuable in Washington State''s 2004 governors race where less than 200 votes separated the winner from the loser.

We desperately need voting reform in the United States so citizens are not disenfranchised from voting.

See http://Democracy-Now.us

[lmartink]

I wonder if those awful Diebold machines will rear their ugly head in this election. No one should trust their vote to Diebold.

In the last election, these machines were notoriusly unreliable, and the owner of the company professed to be a proud Republican, and "....would do anything to insure a Republican victory."

I guess we will see what happens.

[W.W. Terry]

Long lines? If I were a democrat I would not put up with long lines. I would go home and wait till the bars close tonight and then I would vote. Caio! wwterry

[W.W. Terry]

Listen carefully Obama. Tired of long lines? Do it like we do in Oregon and Washington. We have only mail in ballots. That way democrats can commit voter fraud from the warmth of their homes. In Hillsboro Oregon last year the state gave some 80,000 drivers licenses to illegal alien Mexicans. So we know the democrats are going to get 80,000 votes. In Washington last election the democrats won by using voter fraud by finding about 200 ballots from bums and winos which was later thrown out after the rushed through swearing in of the democrat governor. Yes sir, the democrats have more style out here when they steal an election. Caio! wwterry