Virginia Voting Problems Mount

by James Parks, Nov 4, 2008

Long voting lines in Detroit and around the nation.

Here’s the latest in our updates on voting issues throughout the day. You can let us know what is going on at your polling place on our Open Thread here.  

Some of the thousands of volunteer My Vote, My Right poll monitors around the country report growing problems at the ballot boxes in Virginia, mainly caused by lack of staff and resources. The biggest problems seem to be in the Tidewater area. In Chesapeake, Va., the electronic voter registration verification system failed and 1,000 people were left in line without being able to vote. Although the problem has been fixed, hundreds still remain in line.

In other election news:  

* Also in Virginia, at the urging of the My Vote, My Right coalition, the state elections board issued a directive today allowing voters who are physically disabled or age 65 or older to ask to vote outside the polls, but within 150 feet of the entrance to the polling place. The directive came after reports that some registrars were requiring such voters to have someone stand in line to alert the chief officer of election of their desire to vote while remaining in their vehicles.

* In Michigan, there are widespread reports of long lines, lack of ample poll workers and general disorganization, resulting in waits as long as two hours (see photo above). Machine malfunctions also are contributing to long lines and, in some cases, requiring poll workers to use paper ballots.

* In St. Louis, the My Vote, My Right coalition dispatched attorneys to a voting site where officials were handing out nothing but provisional ballots.

* In the Cincinnati area, poll monitors report that poll workers are handing out too many provisional ballots, apparently in an effort to lower the number of people in line.

* Also in Virginia, the McCain-Palin campaign has filed a last-minute lawsuit asking a federal court to extend the deadline to receive and count absentee ballots cast by Virginia residents overseas to Nov. 14. The lawsuit seeks to require the state to accept ballots that are postmarked Nov. 4. Normally, the ballots must be received by Election Day to be counted.

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