Lines, malfunctions, and untrained poll workers plague some states

Widespread reports of confusion and delays emerged yesterday as volunteer poll workers scrambled to implement new voting technology in about one-third of precincts nationwide. Voting rights groups said the problems, while troubling and widespread, were not as bad as in some recent elections.

At the same time, however, Democrats accused Republicans of conducting a last-minute operation aimed at preventing voters in Virginia from reaching the polls.

Officials in Virginia said the FBI has begun an investigation into the phone calls targeting Democratic areas of the state. The calls told recipients they would be arrested if they tried to vote. A recording of one such call posted on YouTube.com captured a man's voice telling the recipient that he would be "charged criminally" if he showed up to vote.

The campaign of Democrat James Webb , who is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Senator George Allen , blamed Republicans for the calls, but a spokesman for Allen condemned the calls and said the GOP was not behind them.

Elsewhere in the country, long lines, untrained poll workers, and malfunctioning computers were reported. In Colorado, slow-moving lines stretched for blocks at a downtown voting area that had computer problems, causing some voters to leave without casting ballots. In Maryland, the state's Republican governor publicly urged voters to vote absentee instead of using the state's voting machines.

Voting rights groups said many problems stemmed from the transition to high-tech voting methods, including touch-screen voting machines that are similar to ATMs and optical-scan machines. Many poll workers received minimal training on the equipment, which states were encouraged to adopt under a 2002 law.

"These problems were anticipated. When you have this many new machines in a large number of precincts, you're going to have problems with poll workers not understanding how to administer the election," said Dan Seligson , editor of the nonpartisan website Electionline.org.

The liberal group MoveOn.org accused unspecified forces of an organized effort of voter suppression and offered a $250,000 reward to anyone who could prove it. Voting rights groups have complained that the newer voting machines are vulnerable to fraud and hacking and in many states do not leave a paper trail that could be used to double-check vote counts.

In some parts of the country, problems also arose over identification requirements. In Missouri, the secretary of state, Democrat Robin Carnahan , was asked for identification three times when she tried to vote early last week, although that law had also been overturned on the grounds it discriminated against some voters.

In South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford , a Republican, was turned away from his voting station because he forgot his voter identification card. In Ohio, a Republican congressman, Steve Chabot , was forced to go home to retrieve proof that he lived at the address listed on voter rolls.

Civil rights groups say the problems at the polls amounted to a national disgrace.

"How much more embarrassment does America need to take before we take our electoral process seriously?" said Sharon Lettman , vice president of the People for the American Way Foundation in Washington. "We had these problems four years ago, and the system is still broken."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.