High turnout a problem for election officials

Election officials across the US braced for record turnout on Tuesday in a historic presidential race, hoping to avoid the long lines and malfunctioning machines that scarred previous contests for the White House.

Lawsuits alleging voter suppression surfaced in the hotly contested state of Virginia. A judge refused late Monday to extend poll hours and to add voting machines to black precincts in some areas.

Civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in a federal lawsuit, demanded those changes, saying minority neighbourhoods would experience overwhelming turnout and there weren't enough electronic machines.

US District Judge Richard Williams denied the motion for a preliminary injunction, but ordered election officials to publicize that people in line by 7 p.m., the polls' closing time, would be allowed to cast ballots.

Republican John McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electoral board hours before polls opened, trying to force the state to count late-arriving military ballots from overseas.

McCain, a former prisoner of war from the Vietnam War, asked a federal judge to order state election officials to count absentee ballots mailed from abroad that arrive as late as Nov. 14.

Lawsuits have become common fodder in election battles. The 2000 recount meltdown in Florida was ultimately decided by the US Supreme Court, with Republican George W. Bush defeating Democrat Al Gore. In Ohio, the 2004 turmoil over malfunctioning machines and long lines was beset by litigation.

What is uncommon about Tuesday's contest is the sheer number of voters expected to descend on more than 7,000 election jurisdictions across the country.

Lines stretching around buildings and lasting for hours have already plagued many states with early voting, including Florida, Georgia and Colorado. Voter registration numbers are up 7.3 percent from the last presidential election.

Democrats saw their registration numbers increase by 12.2 percent, while Republicans saw their ranks grow by only 1.7 percent, according to a recent analysis by The Associated Press.

About 50 percent of those going to the polls Tuesday will vote on a new system - something voting advocates fear may confuse people. Armies of lawyers dispatched by political parties and candidates McCain and Democrat Barack Obama will monitor polling places looking for signs of vote tampering and voter intimidation.

Challenging people at the polls over their right to vote prompted some election officials to strengthen regulations on such challenges. In Ohio, for example, the secretary of state sent notices to local election jurisdictions stating that only poll workers can approach voters about ballot problems.

Extra ballots and additional touch-screen machines have been dispatched by voting officials across the country. Still, voting advocates worry that those efforts aren't enough.

"We have a system that is traditionally set up for low turnout," said Tova Wang of the government watchdog group Common Cause. "We're going to have all these new voters, but not a lot of new resources. The election directors just have very little to work with."