FBI probes dirty tricks claims amid voting machine problems in U.S. election
Deborah Hastings, The Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, November 07, 2006
While new voting machines confounded some midterm election poll workers, reports of dirty tricks and voter intimidation surfaced across the United States on Tuesday, prompting federal investigations in at least two states.
In Virginia, election officials contacted the FBI over complaints of voter intimidation in the hard-fought race between Republican Senator. George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb. Jean Jensen, secretary of the Board of Elections, said her office received reports of phone calls apparently encouraging voters to stay home on Election Day. Other calls directed voters to the wrong polling place.
In Indiana, the FBI was investigating allegations that a Democratic volunteer at a Monroe County polling site was found with unprocessed absentee ballots.
Other states reported voter intimidation problems and dirty tricks.
In Arizona, three men, one of them armed, stopped Hispanic voters and questioned them outside a Tucson polling place, according to voting monitors for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which photographed the incidents and reported them to the FBI.
In Maryland, sample ballots suggesting Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael Steele were Democrats were handed out by people bused in from out of state. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Maryland by nearly 2-1.
An Ehrlich spokeswoman said the fliers were meant to show the candidates had the support of some state Democrats. They were paid for by the campaigns of Ehrlich, Steel and the Republican party.
More than 80 per cent of the voters were expected to cast some type of electronic ballot Tuesday, which was the deadline for major reforms mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress to prevent a rerun of the 2000 election debacle.
In Denver, up to 300 people stood outside some polling sites. One was Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter, who waited an hour and 40 minutes.
“It’s actually heartening,” he said. It means people “understand the process is important enough to be patient and wait in line.” Nonetheless, Democratic party officials asked a judge to extend poll hours because of the delays.
A long ballot and new machines caused the disruptions, according to Colorado secretary of state spokeswoman Lisa Doran. “Despite the training, some of the election judges are intimidated by the machines,” she said.
Computer glitches and poll workers’ unfamiliarity with the new equipment were also blamed for long lines in such states as Tennessee, South Carolina and Illinois.
In North Carolina, about 100 voters were left waiting at a church because the poll worker who had the key showed up nearly an hour late. In Pennsylvania, a computer programming error forced some to cast paper ballots. In Indiana, 175 precincts also resorted to paper. Counties in those states also extended poll hours to make up for delays.
As of midday, none of the stumbles seemed to signal a voting disaster, said poll watchers.
“Lots of fender-benders, but no major tie-ups,” said Doug Chapin, director of electionline.org, a nonpartisan group that tracks election problems. “It’s been a steady drumbeat, but nothing that rises to the level of `This could compromise the results.”’
Nevertheless, some of the mishaps raised the frustration level.
In Cleveland, where some voters in 2004 waited in 14-hour lines, problems with ballot-reading machines caused big delays.
Across the country, Democrats accused Republicans of sponsoring automated “robo-calls” that have infuriated voters. The recorded calls, which reached a fever pitch in the days leading up to the election, automatically dial and re-redial, promoting or trashing a candidate.
Republicans have denied responsibility. Some voters have reported being awakened in the middle of the night by such calls, and said that after they hung up, the phone rang again. Federal rules bar election phone solicitations after 9 p.m.
In some states, the effort to improve the integrity of the election system got off to a shaky start. Long lines formed, prompting appeals to judges to keep the polls open longer.
Kevin Caffrey, a 43-year-old school teacher from Denver and a registered Republican, was furious after he was forced to stand in line for more than an hour.
“Every individual who put me in line, I’m voting against them. I’ve been waiting in line like an animal. This is a nightmare,” he said.
© The Associated Press 2006
