Turnout was heavy at polling sites in Santa Fe and Albuquerque as early voting started Saturday.

In fact, waiting times were so long at a south-side Santa Fe location that some people who wanted to cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 4 election gave up and left.

And people who tried to vote downtown at the Santa Fe County administration building on Grant Avenue found the front doors locked Saturday and a sign posted that blamed the Secretary of State's Office for misinformation mailed to voters about that site.

The states least-prepared to handle problems that could crop up at polling places are the presidential swing states of Colorado and Virginia, along with Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, said the joint report released Thursday (Oct.

There's an agitated vibe at the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder's election department Tuesday morning.

Though election day's only three weeks away and mail-in voting has started, residents waiting in line worry about missing and mistake-bearing paperwork.

Mary O'Donnell waits clutching two mail-in ballots. One is her own, but she wants a replacement after she mistakenly printed her name on the return envelope instead of signing. The other ballot is her roommate's, which arrived despite a data-entry error that shipped it with the wrong ZIP code.

As of midday today 5,151 votes had been cast and absentee ballots received in early voting, compared to the total 4,679 votes cast during municipal election in April.

Only 8.71 percent of registered voters turned out to vote in that election, the lowest voter turnout in Murfreesboro history, Elections administrator Hooper Penuel said at the time.

But this election is different. The six early voting sites across the county have experienced lines with 3,292 early ballots cast Wednesday and another 1,126 cast today by noon.

Using data from 28 local election offices, the Advancement Project says some precincts with large minority populations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Florida and Michigan could have long lines Nov. 4 unless they provide more machines, stations and staff. Faced with long waits, thousands of voters could give up and go home, the group says.
"There are disparities that need to be fixed," says Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project.

That warning appeared the headlines of at least three major papers across the country and explains why you may be waiting in some long lines to cast your vote.

Big problems have already been predicted for Florida polls this November.

A new study released Thursday by a civil rights group predicted Florida polling places will be overwhelmed and unprepared to handle this election.