Debacle at the polls
Both CBS News and ABC News are currently leading their Web coverage with stories on polling-place problems. Here's a snippet of CBS's piece:
Reports are coming in from election protection groups suggesting that Virginia, a key battleground state, is having the most problems,
with 20-plus cities and counties having serious problems: machines
breaking down, substituted paper ballots being stuffed into suitcases,
boxes and duffle bags (poll officials telling voters they will be
counted later), unbearably long lines, frustrated voters walking away.
This has some voters worrying that their votes won’t be counted....
In contrast, MSNBC is accentuating the positive, focusing on just how many people are showing up to vote. But a post this afternoon on its First Read political blog struck a grimmer note:
VIRGINIA: Dozens of polling
places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunctions. Some
polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for
hours. Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by
polling workers. Voters have illegally been issued with provisional
ballets where machines have been broken.
Students at Virginia
Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling
place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with
little parking.
PENNSYLVANIA: Voting machine
malfunctions are widespread and at least a dozen locations, mainly
focused on Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Election Protection has
received reports of campaign materials being illegally distributed at
polling locations in Pittsburgh. Voters across the state are reporting
that they never received their absentee ballots, which is creating
additional chaos at the polls.
To reiterate: Virginia is a key battleground state. Also, note that an upset in Pennsylvania would greatly increase the likelihood of a national McCain win; and that diminished turnout in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will almost certainly hurt Barack Obama.
Whatever tonight's outcome, this is an embarrassment.
P.S.--The NY Times has an informative, easy-to-read running post on voting problems at The Caucus. Among other things, it discusses the possibility of the '08 election being decided by a Bush v. Gore-style post-election fight, something I addressed in a recent Phoenix article:
The Ohio Republican Party re-filed a lawsuit it previously dropped
against the Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, claiming
that she has not done enough to ensure that provisional ballots are
counted properly and uniformly in all counties across the state.
Ohio State University law professor Edward Foley, an election law
specialist, said the lawsuit was a placeholder to be used by the
Republicans to challenge the final results if the outcome in Ohio is
close, using the Bush v. Gore decision by the Supreme Court in 2000.
“They are specifically relying on Bush v. Gore and 14th Amendment
and claiming that Secretary Brunner’s rules in handling provisional and
absentee ballots are not uniform throughout the state of Ohio,” said
Mr. Foley. “This new filing appears to be an effort by the Republicans
to have the process for verifying provisional ballots be handled in
their own lawsuit rather than another lawsuit filed by a advocacy group
for the homeless.”
Remind me again why we presume to teach democracy to the rest of the world?