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Big Confusion Likely On Biggest-Ever Super Tuesday

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By DEBORAH HASTINGS, The Associated Press

Published: February 4, 2008

Long lines, a shortage of poll workers and unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots could delay vote counts in the biggest-ever Super Tuesday in American politics - a day in which nearly half the nation will cast ballots.

A record 24 states hold primaries and caucuses Tuesday, the result of a stampede by states to gain prestige and wield clout by moving up voting dates in the Democratic and Republican nominating races for the White House. These all-out charges toward Tuesday provide ample opportunities for confusion and stalled tallies, voting advocates say.

Many of the states that moved up primaries have never been involved in one with meaningful impact, often resulting in low turnout in the past, said Tova Wang of The Century Foundation think tank.

In their haste to move up primaries, officials in some states appear to have overlooked ordinary facts of life. Cold Northeastern states including Connecticut and New York have encountered problems recruiting poll workers because many senior citizens, a sizable percentage of paid volunteers, are still south for the winter. Snow in the middle of winter also could have an impact, especially if there's bad weather on one end of a state and good weather on the other.

A significant shortage of poll workers forced Linda von Nessi, clerk to the Essex County Board of Election in New Jersey, to advertise in local newspapers. "People were either in Florida or they didn't want to commit because of the possibility of cold weather," she said.

But even Sunbelt states have felt the pinch. As of Thursday, some California election officials were still recruiting poll workers on their Internet sites.

Super Tuesday "is really like a national primary," said Doug Chapin of electionline.org, funded by The Pew Center on the States. "And the thing that's really striking about 2008 is we're still seeing a tremendous amount of change and a great deal of uncertainty" in the final days leading to Super Tuesday.

If state contests produce tight margins and too-close-to-call races, Chapin said demands for recounts could abound. In New Hampshire, Democrats asked for a recount after Jan. 8 primary results differed widely from pre-election polls.

"If people are unhappy with the results, you may see the same kind of back-and-forth we saw in 2000," Chapin said, when Florida's recount went to the U.S. Supreme Court and George W. Bush was declared the victor weeks after the November election.

In California, the most populated state and highest possessor of electoral votes, some election officials have already warned that vote counts will be far later than normal. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said record numbers of mail-in ballots and an anticipated deluge of voters could delay final primary results, compounded by a late shift to paper ballots from electronic voting machines.

In Florida - where the "hanging chad" paper ballot debacle of 2000 prompted all 67 counties to embrace touch-screen machines - state officials no longer will use most of them. This week's primary marked the last use for most of the 250,000 machines. In November, voters will cast paper ballots read by optical scanners.

No matter what happens on Super Tuesday, there is an upside to the early ballots, voting advocates say.

"If there really are problems, that gives states longer than they'd normally have to fix them before the November election," Chapin said.

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