WP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14868609/Major problems at polls feared
Voting law changes, new technology could mean trouble
By Dan Balz and Zachary A. Goldfarb
Updated: 10:12 p.m. ET Sept 16, 2006
<<snip>>
In a polarized political climate, in which elections are routinely marked by litigation and allegations of incompetent administration or outright tampering, some worry that voting problems could cast a Florida-style shadow over this fall's midterm elections.
"We could see that control of Congress is going to be decided by races in recount situations that might not be determined for several weeks," said Paul S. DeGregorio, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, although he added that he does not expect problems of this magnitude.
"It's hard to put a factor on how ill-prepared we are," said Democratic former Ohio governor Richard F. Celeste, who recently co-chaired a study of new machines with Republican Richard L. Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania, for the National Research Council. They advised local election officials to prepare backup plans for November.
"What we know is these technologies require significant testing and debugging to make them work," added Celeste, now president of Colorado College. "Our concern -- particularly as we look to the November election, when there is a lot of pressure on -- is that election officials consider what kinds of fallbacks they can put in place."
The main focus is on whether people know how to properly use the machines, particularly the large army of volunteers who staff the polls at most precincts.
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