Harsh weather, long lines, a few reports of problems at polls
11/2/2004, 4:21 p.m. CT
By ALAN SAYRE
The Associated Press    

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Rain around Louisiana made getting to polling places a soggy affair Tuesday, but the state's top election official disputed claims that there were widespread voting machine problems.

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Most of the concern over voting troubles centered on New Orleans, where late delivery of machines for balloting on Sept. 18 forced a court-ordered replay of a juvenile court judge election.

There were conflicting views on how smoothly the election was going there.

Secretary of State Fox McKeithen said only six of New Orleans' 850 voting machines had mechanical problems on Tuesday, three of them because polling commissioners accidentally turned them off, meaning they could not be restarted. Replacement machines were delivered and voting continued as normal, he said.

"We are having a totally normal election and we think we have the best election system in the country," Secretary of State Fox McKeithen said.

McKeithen said his office received numerous reports of machines not working, but most turned out to be false. He blamed "roving bands of lawyers, Democrats and Republicans, all these interested parties."

"They start telling rumors, and that's the biggest problem we've had today is the rumors," McKeithen said.

Bill Quigley, a lawyer working with the Louisiana Election Protection Committee that encompasses several civic groups, said his group has gotten reports of machine malfunctions at dozens of precincts, including one case in which no one could vote until 9 a.m.

Quigley said his staff also has received dozens complaints about improperly trained poll workers who are not accurately applying state or federal law and potentially "denying thousands of people the right to vote in New Orleans alone."

Quigley said he had received similar reports from Jefferson, Bossier, and East Baton Rouge parishes.

"There's a tremendous misunderstanding (by poll workers) of what the provisional ballot is about," Quigley said. "First-time voters are being told they can only vote provisionally. We also have a number of complaints about people being denied the right to vote because they don't have drivers' licenses."

Quigley said his staff was researching possibly legal action, including asking a judge to keep polls open later and to allow voters who were turned away or forced to vote provisionally to return and recast full ballots.

One machine problem stemmed from the use of provisional ballots and a handful of first-time voters who were allowed to vote in local races, unlike most provisional voters who were restricted to federal races, said Scott Madere, a McKeithen spokesman.

Elections officials also went to the polls in Tangipahoa Parish to clear up confusion about provisional ballots.

Rain covered most of the state, and forecasters said the storms would not clear until well after the polls had closed. That didn't deter voters, who crowded into polling places.

"That's what's surprising me," said Paulette Dartez, election director with the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court's Office, where poll workers were busy.

Long lines of voters also formed in central and north Louisiana, despite heavy rain. In one Ouachita Parish precinct, 30 percent of the voters had cast ballots by 9 a.m., officials said.

Umbrella in hand, Ethel Noble, 82, was surprised at how many people already were in line when she arrived at her Ouachita Parish poll in the late morning.

"I had to drive around today looking for a place to park to go vote," Noble said. "I think everybody's voting today because they want to get the right man in office."

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