Seven Ways Your Vote Might Not Count This November

While many voting rights activists are focused on stopping potential problems on Election Day, there are several milestones between now and the 2008 presidential vote that would preview problems with voting on Nov. 4.

What voters often do not know is that long lines or delays in polling place voting can result from many factors -- some administrative, some technical, some partisan. Many of the problems that arise on Election Day not only can be identified before voting in November, they can be resolved by election officials. The following issues will directly impact how voters are accommodated.

Voter Purges

According to the federal law that governs how people may be removed from voter lists, the last day that most registered voters can be purged is 90 days before an election, which would have been Aug. 5 for the presidential election. However, some states are not following the process in the National Voter Registration Act, according to voting rights attorneys. Moreover, because purges are often conducted secretly, people who do not call local election offices to confirm their registration status may discover later this fall that they cannot vote.

Solution: Voters, particularly those who have not voted in recent years, should call their local election office to confirm they are registered at their current address. If they are not properly registered, they should update their voter registration. This must be done before registration closes, which is the first week in October in 27 states. Advocacy groups can facilitate this by accessing a voter registration list and reviewing it with community activists. (Editor's note: Web sites and experts to help voters are listed below.)

Unprocessed Voter Registrations

After the Democratic Convention, the Obama campaign will launch a national voter registration drive to bring millions of new voters to the polls in November, according to top campaign officials. This could be the largest voter drive in decades. In previous years, local election officials have complained about receiving too many registration forms at the last minute to verify before Election Day. In two Ohio cities in 2004, Cleveland and Toledo, boxes of registrations went unprocessed by Election Day.

Solution: New voters should register sooner rather than later, and then verify that their voter registration forms have been processed by calling local election offices. Remember, it is local election officials, not political parties or third-party groups, who are legally responsible for validating and processing voter registrations.

Obstacles to Student Voting

Historically, students have been criticized for not voting, but what is often overlooked are the obstacles created by local officials or state legislators that discourage student voting. The most frequent barriers involve state residency and ID requirements. In some places, registrars tell students that a campus post office box is not a proper address and refuse to register students for that reason.

Solution: Students who experience problems with voter registration should contact organizations working on voter registration, or the presidential campaigns, or election protection lawyers who have the legal expertise to help with registration and could go to court to enforce student voting rights.

Voting Machine Allocations

How local election officials allocate voting machines -- literally the number of machines per polling place -- can lead to smooth voting, or long lines prompting some voters to leave without casting a ballot. In 2004 in Ohio, a shortage of voting machines created lines and delayed voting that disenfranchised minority voters in the state's inner cities. In contrast, nearby wealthier suburbs experienced no lines, due to an ample number of voting machines.