Many states are facing legal challenges over possible voting problems Nov. 2. A look at some of the developments Saturday:
ALASKA:
Nearly 2,500 absentee ballots were held up a day at a Juneau post office because the state Division of Elections underestimated postage costs, postal officials said. Elections officials brought the ballots late Thursday afternoon, but postage was about twice as much as they had estimated and postal officials were unable to reach anyone from the division after hours. The delay could keep some Alaskans from casting absentee ballots, which must be postmarked by Tuesday.
ARIZONA:
The Secretary of State's office said that as many as 2,300 Arizonans who registered to vote over the Internet may be missing from voter rolls. County recorders said some voters were rejected because their forms were improperly filled out, and that others appear on the rolls with name variations. Recorders have been instructed to take measures to ensure that properly registered voters are not turned away.
FLORIDA:
A Republican operative filed suit against a civil rights organization for allegedly neglecting to turn in voter registration forms collected from citizens during a petition drive. The suit, filed on behalf of 11 Floridians, accuses the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now of using the registrations as a ruse to get people to sign a minimum wage petition. ACORN said the suit is politically motivated.
NEBRASKA:
Nearly 1,000 people who voted by absentee ballot were asked to recast their votes because the ballots they used lacked the necessary signatures of the election commissioner or a representative. New ballots were sent to voters by overnight mail.
OHIO:
A Cuyahoga County judge ruled that each political party may field only one challenger at each Ohio polling place on Election Day. The San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights had sued over a state directive that allowed one challenger per party per precinct. The lawsuit said that would have allowed multiple challengers at polling places serving more than one precinct, possibly intimidating voters. Federal courts are considering similar issues involving challengers at the polls.
SOUTH DAKOTA:
U.S. Attorney James McMahon said a tribal judge had no authority to issue an order Friday preventing Republicans from observing voting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. McMahon said anyone trying to enforce the judge's order could be found to be violating the law. A group trying to increase American Indian turnout had sought the order, claiming a Republican employee had intimidated its workers by videotaping them as they discussed the voting process.
WISCONSIN:
A review by the Milwaukee city attorney's office found hundreds of addresses that the state Republican Party had claimed were incorrect or nonexistent. The state GOP has asked the Wisconsin Elections Board to remove the names of about 5,600 registered voters from the rolls, claiming addresses listed with city officials are fictitious. The city attorney's office found problems with the GOP's database, but a Republican official said most of the addresses are invalid.
