NJ/Willingboro Machines Broken
Posted: 06:46 AM ET
From Beth Elliott
(CNN) – Broken machines in Willingboro, New Jersey, have led to disruptions in voting, according to Joe Dugan, chairman of the Burlington County Election Board. Voters at Pennypacker Park Elemenary School have been given emergency paper ballots as a mechanic works on the machines, Dugan said. He added that he expects the machines to be up and running soon.
VA/Fairfax County Machine Problems
Posted: 07:30 AM ET
From Marsha Walton
Paper ballots will be used until machines in Fairfax County are fixed.
Fairfax County, Virginia (CNN) — General Registrar Rokey Suleman said a handful of memory cards did not work when machines were started this morning. He tells CNN that new memory cards have already been sent out to those precincts with problems. He said a "very, very small number of machines" were affected, and voters at those locations could use paper ballots instead until the problem was corrected.
VA/Richmond: Machines down, no paper ballots
Posted: 07:34 AM ET
From CNN Correspondent Dan Lothian
Paper ballots are now being used in Richmond after complaints that none were available.
RICHMOND (VA) - Voting machine problems at the Math and Science Center in Richmond have forced the county to switch to paper ballots at the location.
The board of elections tells CNN the location is using paper ballots after five of seven machines broke down. Callers to the CNN Hotline originally said there were no paper ballots. But the Board of Elections now says they have started using the ballots and are in the process of deploying more equipment.
NC/Raleigh Voter Issues
Posted: 08:40 AM ET
From Beth Elliott
Raleigh scanners are having trouble handling ballots that are wet from rain dripping off of soaked voters.
Raleigh, NC (CNN) - A soggy and delayed start to the voting day in a Raleigh, North Carolina, precinct, after some confusion at the polling station. Wake County Board of Elections director Cherie Poucher reported there were problems this morning at the Barwell Road Community Center (formerly the Ebenezer Church Road precinct). She confirmed that the chief judge forgot to take the ballots out of her grandson's truck when being dropped off this morning. The elections director says the truck drove away, and the judge wasn't able to track down her grandson. The Board of Elections delivered new ballots and voting began at 7:06am, 36 minutes behind schedule. Approximately 300 people were waiting in line.
IN/Lake County Lines and Problems
Posted: 09:30 AM ET
From Marsha Walton
(CNN) - Voting machine problems and some delays are reported in Lake County, Indiana, just across the state line from Chicago.
Damian Rico, communications director for the city of East Chicago, Indiana, said at one precinct in Riley Park, two machines were down for about 15 minutes when the polling place opened. Both machines are up and running now.
Voting machine breakdowns lead to long lines
Posted: 09:41 AM ET
Residents wait in line to vote Tuesday morning in Annandale, Virginia.
(CNN) – Voting machines were breaking down or simply not deployed in adequate numbers in some polling places Tuesday morning, slowing balloting as Election Day dawned.
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Long lines were seen in rainy Richmond, Virginia, where Henrico County switched to paper ballots at the Math and Science Center after five of seven machines broke down.
Callers to the CNN Voter Hotline originally said there were no paper ballots. But Virginia's State Board of Elections said the center has started using the ballots and the board is in the process of deploying more equipment.
Record number of voters expected to deluge polls
Voting problems surfaced in several areas early Tuesday when people turned out in droves as balloting commenced along the Eastern Seaboard and in mid-Atlantic states. Voters needed to use paper ballots because of problems with electronic voting machines in some New Jersey precincts. And in New York, Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Rivera said many people began lining up as early as 4 a.m. at some polling places to avoid long lines, leading to erroneous reports that some sites were not opening on time.
Long lines, a few glitches as Election Day dawnsOptically scanned ballots, new to many voters, create a paper trail in case a tight race or voting irregularities once again puts Florida in the national spotlight.
But paper ballots slow things down, as do provisional ballots, which should be more frequent this go-around, because of the state's "no match, no match'' voter identification law and 2-million new voters who have been added to the rolls since the last presidential election.
Just minutes after the polls opened at 7 a.m. minor problems with machines cropped up, according to voters and reporters making spot checks at polling places.
In Clearwater, Betty Mayeux said ballot scanners were not working at her polling place, 229 Drew St. She was told she could wait for the scanner to be fixed or she could leave the ballot to be scanned later. She left the ballot.
At Crest Ridge Gardens Community Center, Tracy Walker said she waited for two hours, only to be told just before 7 that the machines were not working. By then, more than 100 people were in line, she said.
"I'm frustrated. Why didn't they know this two hours ago,'' she said. "I wanted to make sure I got in by 7 o'clock so I could get to work.''
In Palm Beach County, officials said some machines at the 450 polling locations are not accepting ballots because voters are not filling out the second page, which contains proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.
