Ballot Watch: Eyes on the Election

Ohio

A federal judge in Toledo ruled that Ohio voters who did not receive absentee ballots on time could cast provisional ballots at the polls. This ruling reversed an earlier directive by the secretary of state who ruled voters could not cast provisional ballots despite not receiving their absentee ones. A lawsuit, filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Bingham McCutchen LLP, had asked the federal court to enter an injunction requiring the secretary of state to allow statewide provisional voting.

A federal court judge granted a request filed by attorneys for the Ohio Democratic Party, ordering election officials in Franklin and Knox counties to provide paper ballots or other alternative methods to voters waiting to use electronic touch-screen machines. The Franklin County Board of Elections appealed it, and election officials in both Franklin and Knox counties claimed they had no way to carry out the judge's order. The secretary of state filed a response saying the complaint was bogus.

At some polling places, waiting times to vote were reported to be up to five hours long. The judge also ordered both counties to comply with state law, which requires that those already in line at the official poll closing time of 7:30 p.m. be allowed to vote. In the village of Gambier, where Kenyon College is located, the last vote was cast Wednesday at 3:56 a.m.

Pennsylvania

Concern over possibly fraudulent voting machines in Philadelphia arose when two voting machines showed hundreds of votes already registered by the time voting stations opened. But Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham inspected the two machines and said the confusion stemmed from the fact that one counter on the machine records the total number of votes ever cast, while another tallies the day's votes. The day's vote counter began at zero, she said. Still, Republican officials pointed out that Abraham is a Democrat and said they might go to court to have the machines impounded.

South Carolina

Two precincts in Greenville County experienced problems with their new touch-screen voting machines. Some early voters had to use paper ballots as technicians repaired the machines. The machines were working properly about 90 minutes after polls opened, according to the AP.

Virginia