Spoiling election day

As reported Wednesday in The Washington Post (WP), electionline.org published their preview of the 2006 elections warning of widespread potential voting problems. Since the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) took effect to

assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise provide assistance with the administration of certain Federal election laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration standards for States and units of local government with responsibility for the administration of Federal elections...

electionline.org finds that confusion, controversy, and machine and human error predict problems around the country, and will "combine with numerous high-stakes races to create the possibility of confusion on or after Election Day."

The report singles out the failures of voting machines and statewide voter databases, disputed rules for registration drives, challenged voter ID laws, and voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) as contributing to a year in which the election process has changed "more than in any year since the disputed 2000 Presidential election."

The Nov.7 election promises to bring more of what voters have come to expect since the 2000 election - a divided body politic, an election system in flux and the possibility - if not certainty - of problems at polls nationwide.

The preview includes: a listing of states to watch; a chart of voting machines used by states; state VVPATs requirements; voter-verification requirements; status of state voter registration databases; and state absentee voting and provisional voting practices.

Election Preview 2006: What's Changed, What Hasn't, and Why
(October 2006, pdf, 75pp/3.1MB)