Election Updates from the Front Lines

Breaking Voter Problems (11/4/08)

Ohio:

LOTS of people here in Cuyahoga County-Cleveland and in Franklin County-Columbus are reporting that: 1 -- they have voted from same address for years and suddenly have disappeared from the list at polls; 2 -- they are on the Statewide database (DB) but not on the poll registry; 3 -- they received a VR card/notice of registration and precinct this fall but are not on poll registry

Michigan:

Voters are reporting massive voting machine malfunctions across the state resulting in long lines and discouraged voters leaving lines without casting a ballot. In many cases, poll workers are asking voters to cast their ballot on paper and they will tally them later. Some voters are being asked to vote on paper using magic markers.

Florida:

Voters in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area have experienced numerous problems trying to cast ballots this morning. We have preliminary reports of voters being turned away from the polls for incomplete registrations and broken optical scan machines in some two dozen polling locations all across the state.

Missouri:

There were multiple reports of swapped poll books (voter lists for a given precinct at the wrong location) in Kansas City, MO. This issue has been resolved.

Virginia:

Dozens of polling places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunction. Some polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for hours.
Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by polling workers.
Voters have illegally been issued with provisional ballets where machines have been broken.
Students at Virginia Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with little parking.

Pennsylvania:

Voting machine malfunctions are widespread and at least a dozen locations, mainly focused on Pittsburg and Philadelphia.
Reports of campaign materials are being illegally distributed at polling locations in Pittsburgh.
Voters across the state are reporting that they never received their absentee ballots, which is creating additional chaos at the polls.

Breaking Voter Problems (11/3/08)

Pittsburg, PA: Robocalls telling people that Election Day is November 5^th have been reported.
Ohio: voters falsely told that they can send in absentee ballots as late as November 14th.
North Carolina: Fliers were left on cars at a shopping mall instructing republicans to vote on Tuesday and democrats to vote on Wednesday.
Louisiana: People who moved out of their damaged homes after hurricane Katrinaare reporting confusion about their registration status and voting precinct.
New Jersey: State registration finder is operating too slow to update with the names of recent registrants.
Maryland and Virginia: Voters receiving calls from Obama campaign with inaccurate polling place location.
Indiana: Early voting centers are closing at noon and many people left standing in line have been sent away without getting to vote. Election law is unclear about this situation.
Michigan: Many registered voters' names are not appearing on the state web site that verifies registration status. This also means that people can't find their polling location on the site.
Kansas City, MO: Reports coming in from voters at a largely African American polling location, who are being warned of a 6-8 hour wait to vote (despite the line being short) and forced to put their names on a list while in line to vote.
Westchester County, NY: An official county mailer was sent out in English and Spanish—the Spanish version lists Election day as November 9^th.
Texas: Several reports from voters who have not yet received their absentee ballots.