Voting glitches could put races into overtime

In a conference call with election administrators, Paul DeGregorio, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, advised officials to "educate the media" that potential glitches could delay announcement of winners.

Any combination of unforeseen problems could send people to bed tomorrow night unaware of which political party will control Congress next year, he noted.

Likewise, Doug Chapin, executive director of the nonpartisan electionline.org , said a real possibility exists that a crush of absentee and provisional ballots combined with a new fervor to challenge results could carry the midterm election results beyond tomorrow.

"It's hard to predict chaos, but there are so many different changes going on, I'd be surprised if somewhere there isn't an outcome in doubt," he said.

The specialists aren't predicting a breakdown. But their cautionary notes reflect the nervousness underlying a high-stakes election that is taking place in a period of widespread change in American elections.

Roughly one in three Americans will vote with new computerized equipment this year, some of which was still being tested last week. The new machines are intended to prevent another election like that in Florida in 2000, in which recounts of ballots with pregnant chads and hanging chads determined who would be president.

In addition to machine problems, election analysts noted these potential pitfalls:

States are required now under the Help America Voter Act to maintain voter rolls, which will be deployed in some states for the first time when people show up at polling places. Many voters who find themselves removed from the master list will cast provisional ballots that may or may not get counted.

New photo ID requirements for voting have left confusion in several states about what voters need to bring with them and what poll workers must ask for. A dozen states have adopted new laws that tighten requirements that voters display some form of identification at the polls. Some election analysts say the laws could create confusion and block some eligible people from voting, which could prompt lawsuits and contested results.

Trained poll workers who are knowledgeable about voting machines and new laws are in short supply in some jurisdictions. In the Chicago area, Cook County alone was short 800 poll workers less than a week before the election.

Ray Martinez, who was vice chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission, said election administrators are telling him they worry that their workers have received insufficient training.

"We have the added complexity not just of more technology, but of new laws and procedures that challenge poll workers even more. With something so human-intensive, you have to expect that there will be problems," said Martinez, an adviser on election issues to the Pew Center on States.

The nervousness is compounded by the potential for problems in states with key Senate and House races.

Pennsylvania enters its election with a widespread lack of faith in voting equipment, which was purchased from too many vendors to ensure reliability, some analysts believe.

In Ohio, which has had contested elections, a new voter identification law is threatening to cause uncertainty.

A three-judge federal panel recently reversed a lower court and allowed a voter ID requirement to remain in effect. The issue remained in court with several groups arguing that confused county elections boards were treating voters casting absentee ballots differently.

But James Lee, spokesman for the secretary of state, predicted that any delays in Ohio would be attributed to stubborn losers.

"You may find that the candidates don't want to concede," he said. "Nothing's ever official in Ohio until at least 11 days after the election."