Despite what looks like record turnout, Tuesday hasn’t yet seen the Election Day meltdown at the polls that some watchdogs feared. But Democratic political consultant Chris Sautter warns that the real potential for chaos is just beginning. He writes Campaign Insider to say that the crush of voters now heading to the polls after work means the next few hours hold the greatest possible chance for voting issues.
Not that there haven’t been reports of voting issues throughout the day, but reports of problems have skyrocketed in the past 45 minutes or so. In parts of Ohio and Missouri elections officials are reporting wait times of 5 hours at some polling locations.
In urban areas like St. Louis and Cincinnati the problems appear to center on a shortage of poll workers. Widespread problems are still being reported in the battleground state of Virginia. Election Protection notes voting machine issues in well over a dozen Virginia counties.
The McCain campaign has highlighted a series of issues at the polls in Pennsylvania including GOP elections officials who were temporarily kicked out of a polling location in Philadelphia and calls going to households in Lancaster, Pennsylvania allegedly informing voters of erroneous polling location switches.
Politics magazine contributor Scott Detrow has this dispatch on early voting issues in the Keystone State…
Long lines have been reported across Pennsylvania, where 8.75 million people are registered to vote. Secretary of State Pedro Cortes predicted that up to 80 percent of eligible voters may cast ballots—that would shatter previous records.
The state didn’t have early voting, which led to concern that some precincts wouldn’t be able to handle the massive turnout. Not many major problems have been reported so far though.
A voter rights group is complaining that “thousands” of Penn State students were forced to vote on provisional ballots in Centre County, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office had to step in when overzealous election workers kicked Republican observers out of some polling places. A spokeswoman from the DA’s office says they’ve been let back in.
Results from Philadelphia will be a key indicator of whether John McCain has a shot at winning Pennsylvania, which he’s said is a critical part of his strategy. John Kerry beat George Bush by over 400,000 votes there in 2004. If Obama has a bigger lead, he’ll likely carry the Keystone State. If not, McCain might have a chance to cash in on all the time here spent here over the last two months.