E-voting could turn close election into a fiasco (from the Guardian UK)

[marmar]

Published on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 by the Guardian / UK
E-voting Could Turn Close Vote into Fiasco
3 key states using electronic machines for the first time
Democrats poised to capture House, leading pollsters say
by Tim Harper

The American political landscape will undergo its most radical overhaul in 12 years today if Democrats are successful in turning mid-term elections into a national referendum on President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

Republicans were trying to cling to control of the U.S. Congress — or at least minimize losses — by mobilizing their base with their much-vaunted get-out-the-vote machinery and warning Democrats would pull the plug in Iraq and make this country more vulnerable to another terrorist attack.
And both sides airlifted in lawyers and observers armed with video cameras to deal with the real elephant in the room in today's vote, the fear that electronic voting machines and murky voting eligibility rules could turn a close election into a fiasco ultimately settled in courtrooms.
Every leading poll in this country on the eve of today's vote showed Democrats ahead in national preference. But for that to turn into a takeover of Congress, voters across the country would have to cast their ballot strictly along party lines, ignoring personalities in local races.
The stakes are high. For Bush, it could mean his remaining two years in office are spent dealing with adversaries bent on revisiting decisions made in a bloody and morale-sapping war and Republicans who consider him politically toxic.
For the Democratic leadership, anything short of a takeover of the House of Representatives will lead to angry recriminations and would totally deflate the party as the 2008 presidential race begins in earnest.
Bush spent his last day on the campaign trail in Florida where he predicted a great victory today and said Democrats have no plan for Iraq, only a consensus that the job is too tough and it's time to get out before the job is done.
"They have taken a calculated gamble,'' Bush said of the Democrats. "They believe the only way they can win this election is to criticize and offer no plan. .......

The complete article is at: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1107-08.htm