"7 Things That Could Go Wrong on Election Day"

In the most recent issue of Time magazine, the cover story is not what one candidate's scandalous past has revealed or the new foreign policy of the other but rather the headline addresses the technicality of the oncoming election day. The article is entitled "7 Things That Could Go Wrong on Election Day."

Here's a little summary:

1) After the 2000 voting nightmare in the Gore/Bush election, Congress demanded that each state have a single voter digital database. These records would then be able to validate all who registered by matching information up with other records such as driver's licenses. It sounded like a good plan, however this past August when a voter-check was run, it resulted in a 22% match-failure rate. Because of this, all over the country people's voting eligibility has been questioned. This "purge" of voters has become a major concern due to the facts that thousands of legitimate voters are being withheld from voting.

2) The whole ACORN debacle has only magnified the problem of registration fraud. However the problem of actual voter fraud has caused people to suggest moderators at the voting booths in order to challenge sketchy voters. To some, this is a horrible idea for it takes away the whole idea of exercising the right to vote and may scare off voters.

3) In Florida, during the 2000 election, thousands of elderly voters were confused by the poorly designed ballot resulting in great confusion to who they meant to vote for. This again could raise concern for the accuracy of votes this time around.

4) One-third of votes this year will be cast on mechanical machines that don't involve paper at all. However they are known to malfunction if calibrated incorrectly. Let's hope that doesn't happen next Tuesday...

5) All across the country people will have to wait in line in order to cast their precious vote. Yet some people just don't have the patience to stand in line for hours. In 2004, it was estimated that between some 5,000 and 15,000 voters gave up and went home. Every vote counts and every voter will be needed.

6) In relation to problem #1, proof of voter legitimacy is a problem. Because a person's eligibility has been based on certain means of proof such as a driver's license, the people who are without this and other documents, for whatever reason, have been taken for granted and have been a part of that voter purge. People fear that sheer frustration with the system will result in a decrease of voters.

7) Nasty scheming is has become a problem. There have been reports of flyers being left on cars telling Democrats to vote on Wednesday rather then Tuesday and emails have been sent out declaring that anyone who wears an Obama or McCain button will be turned away from the polls. Hopefully these things are disregarded but it is still unnerving to think so many people are being misinformed.

So get out there and vote! But be wary of all that could go wrong... Be safe and make good choices!

xoxo Hen