Record Number of Voters Expected To Deluge Polls

Early Tuesday on electionday there are already problems emerging in the mid-Atlantic States. Voters are using paper ballots because of all the problems with voting machines in New Jersey. The Board of Elections spokeswoman in New Your said that people were lining up as early as 4 in the morning at polling places to avoid lines. Because of this there were many reports about polling areas weren't opening on time.

One of the poll workers in Chappaqua, N.Y., John Ritch, said:"By 7:30 this morning, we had as many people we had at noon in 2004.

The Governor from Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell urged voters to "hang in there" as they faced the huge voting turnout. One voter joked "I could stay an hour and a half at the fournt end or three hours in the back," when over 160 voters were lined up at a voting site waiting for it to open.

In counties surrounding Richmond Virginia it was reported by election officials and voters that there were paper jams on some of the machines and balky touch screen machines had people considering to use paper ballots. In Chesapeake, there were approximately 1,000 voters waiting in line to vote. There were also several reports of machines malfunctioning.

In Ohio, a state that normally suffers from several voting glitches they have reported that there dealing with the normal glitches they face such as jammed machines but Ben iscitelli, the Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman said "We're taking care of things like that, but theres nothing major or systemic."

Another thing that the election officals are working on this year thanks to one of the U.S. district Judges, Richard Williams demanded that "officals publicize that people in line by 7 p.m., the polls' closing time, would be allowed to cast ballots."

As any of the election battles law suits become common. McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electorial board for wanting to count the late-arriving militiary ballots from overseas. but McCain himself, a POW from vietnam aked a federal judge to order officals to count absentee ballots from abroad as late as November 14th.

Because the system is set up for a low turnout it was said that tsince there going to have alot of new voters and not a lot of resources . The election directors just have little to work with said Tova Wang a government watchdog group, Common Cause.

I think that because many young, and new voters are starting to truely care and realize that they have a voice they are going to be more interested in voting than what many of the new 18 year olds have in the past but because there is such a large turnout that all of the difficulties they are facing now, and have faced in the past just seem to be a bigger issue. I was really supprised to hear that people were waiting in line as early as 4 am to vote, to me that came as a shock. But that just shows the dedication and excitement the new voters have for this election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems