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NPAction Staff

Monday, April 28, 2008

New report draws attention to 2008 primary election problems

The National Campaign for Fair Elections, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and Election Protection 2008 -- the nation's largest non-partisan voter protection coalition — released a report last week on the problems at the polls during the 2008 primary election season. The report — Election Protection 2008 Primary Report: Looking Ahead to November hopes to spur action to address issues that occurred during the primary season so as to prevent repeat problems during the November general election. The report emphasizes four problems as the most pressing (quoted from the report):

1 - Under Trained and Not Enough Poll Workers: In each primary covered by Election Protection, the dedicated cadre of poll workers misapplied many election rules — from what ballot to give which voter, to what to do when election equipment broke down — causing voters to unnecessarily cast provisional ballots or, worse, to leave the polling place without voting.
2 - Election Machinery Breakdowns : Last-minute changes in voting equipment and new procedures at the polls caused confusion among voters, poll workers and election administrators often leading to disenfranchisement. But it was not only human error and confusion; ballot scanners jammed, electronic voting machines broke down and new electronic poll books malfunctioned.
3 - Registration Roll Problems: From state to state, eligible voters who submitted timely registration applications failed to appear on the registration rolls. Other voters showed up on the rolls registered with a political party other than the one with which they intended to register.
4 - Confusion Over Voter Identification Requirements: Voters across the country were improperly asked for identification. Some poll workers, apparently confused about the requirements in their state, were implementing illegal and restrictive voter identification requirements, turning away eligible voters who did not have identification.