Idaho resorts to photocopies as polling places across America face crowds

BOISE, Idaho — At least three Idaho counties were photocopying extra ballots Tuesday afternoon after a surge of voters made preprinted stocks run low. Crowds were the biggest problem in most other parts of the country as well.

Some precincts in Cassia, Bannock and Butte counties were photocopying ballots by 5 p.m., Deputy Idaho Secretary of State Tim Hurst said.

The problem was somewhat surprising because of the high number of early absentee votes. Roughly 200,000 absentee ballots have been turned in, Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said, more than double the 98,000 absentee ballots collected in 2004. Each county is responsible for estimating the number of voters they will get, he said, but that can be tough because Idaho allows residents to register to vote on election day.

"The counties were told to order quite a few, and some have ordered way over 100 percent of their registered voters on a certain day," Ysursa said. "If people think they're running short now, and the heaviest voting generally comes between 5 o'clock and 8 o'clock, what do you think is going to happen?"

The problem comes with some good news, Ysursa said: It shows that the state is experiencing a strong voter turnout.

"It's a nice problem to have, so to speak, but they may have to run some copies of the ballots and then end up hand-counting them," Ysursa said.

If the ballot shortage spreads, it could cause counting problems. Hand-counting is a manageable problem in rural counties, but it can dramatically slow the results in more populated precincts, Ysursa said.

"Nobody gets turned away, and every vote will get counted, but it just may take a long time," he said.

Gem County Clerk Shelly Gannon said she may call in extra staffers to help with any hand-counting. With two hours left before the polls closed, one precinct had just 200 preprinted ballots left.

"We estimated 95 percent turnout in all of our precincts, but obviously there's a lot of people who are voting for the first time in a while," Gannon said.

Across America, the biggest trouble was big crowds. But folks seemed to take it in stride. University students in Florida were prepared to wait hours after polls closed and massive lines remained.

"What's keeping me here? America needs a change, said 18-year-old Lauren Feronti at the University of Central Florida in Orlando." We need to get the right people in office."

In Maryland, Sen. Benjamin Cardin was heartened after visiting a polling precinct. "People are happy and smiling," he said. "People are very anxious to be voting. They really think they are part of history, and they are."

Early voting before Election Day, which drew record crowds in key battleground states, appeared to ease polling pressures on Tuesday. Despite long lines, polls in Ohio — which suffered delayed tallies in 2004 because of malfunctioning machines and huge crowds — closed without incident — or lawsuits.

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