Line Up, but Will You Be Counted?

Nov. 3, 2008— -- If long lines of early voters are any indication of what turnout will be on Election Day, county officials could be in for a crush of voters -- and potential problems -- as the rest of the nation heads to the polls.

Over the weekend, reports flowed in of Florida voters waiting hours -- in some cases, up to nine, to cast their ballots. The state has seen nearly a quarter of its electorate take advantage of early voting.

Heavy early voter turnout and lengthy wait times in Georgia prompted discussion among county officials about extending voting hours; though they ultimately decided not to extend hours, they're asking for voters' patience on Election Day.

In battleground Indiana, Marion County residents started lining up at a government building at 7 a.m. today. The line quickly began snaking around the building, resulting in wait times of between an hour and 90 minutes, according to the Indianapolis Star.

With record turnout expected on Election Day, county officials across the country are anticipating long lines at some polling places due to the sheer number of voters, potential challenges and potential machine malfunction.

Most state rules suggest that anyone "in line" at the time of poll closing is eligible to cast a ballot. But some lawyers and experts expect that managing the line might become an issue in this election, and that election officials could interpret their state codes differently.

Furthermore, if lawyers decide to ask a court to extend the operating hours of a polling place due to long lines, federal law requires those votes to be cast as provisional ballots, which are counted only in the days following an election.

The codes in most of the battleground states have language implying that anyone "in line" at the time polls close should be allowed to vote, but most codes leave the definition of the end of the line to the discretion of the precinct board.

"The fact of the matter is that when it comes to what happens on Election Day, individual poll workers have a lot of power to decide who does and does not get to vote and no matter what the secretary of state's office said, there's always the possibility that poll workers in individual precincts will do their own thing," said Michael Pitts, a law professor at the Indiana University School of Law.

Edward Foley of Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law agrees.

"We've learned that there are laws written in the books, and then there is how the law gets applied in action on the ground," he said. "It's not always as pristine as in the code."

A sample from some state codes reveals different language.

But one tightly contested battleground state, Indiana, has an unusual "chute system" written into its code: "The inspector shall require all voters who have not yet passed the challengers to line up in a single file within the chute." The "chute" is defined as the "area or pathway that extends fifty feet in length, measured from the entrance to the polls."

According to county officials, the chute is more of a metaphysical concept than any defined boundary, and some state officials say they worry that it will be open to interpretation on Election Day.