ohio 2008 presidential election polls
Lawyers Monitor Election Problems
Video Description
EmploymentCrossing.com Lawyers who volunteered to monitor polling locations on Tuesday reported voting machine malfunctions, polling places opening late and numerous incidences of names missing from voter registration rolls. Most of the lawyers who volunteered were part of Election Protection, a nonpartisan coalition administered by the Voting Rights project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. In Ohio, New Hampshire and Virginia, lawyers scrambled to file court documents in election-related lawsuits. But in most states, lawyers worked to prevent litigation by fielding calls at area law firms, or traveling to polling locations to address voter concerns. Some states had unique issues, such as improper signage in Florida, missing absentee ballots in California and a shortage of interpreters for Asian-American voters in New York's Chinatown. Jon Greenbaum, director of the Voting Rights Project, said the election did not go smoothly in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and New Jersey. Most of the problems in those states related to the optical scan machines, which were implemented after complaints about electronic voting machines. On Tuesday, the scanning machines broke down, leading elections workers to hand out paper ballots as an alternative to thousands of voters, said Greenbaum. Additionally, many ballots were put in duffel bags and even thrown on the floor by poll workers. The bottom line, according to Greenbaum: "The system is not designed to deal with a high turnout election and we're seeing the effects of a lack of planning and resources."
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