标题:Mistakes, breakdowns lead to long waits (CNN) -- Voters were running into problems casting ballots Tuesday morning in scattered locations around the country. People called the CNN Voter Hotline to report irregularities at their precincts, including late poll openings, long lines, and broken or not enough voting machines. Other callers reported brisk and efficient voting as millions across the United States cast their ballots in the presidential race as well as many House and Senate contests. In Kansas City, Missouri, iReport contributor Jessie Sargent said she had been waiting in line for three hours because precincts had received the wrong voter registration lists. "I was there at 5 a.m. and was eighth in line," Sargent said. "I got up to the table, and they realized they had the wrong books. After swapping books, they [thought] that they still had the wrong books but later figured that the pages were in the wrong order. "There have been quite a few people leaving because of work and school, and they have no provisional ballots or books to sign in to." In Shaker Heights, Ohio, just outside Cleveland, the first few voters at one precinct received ballots that were missing the presidential race. "The first four voters [at that location] were given the wrong ballots. Those ballots were voided, and the four voters were given the correct ballots," said Kimberly Bartlett, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Bartlett said she didn't know how the error occurred. "I can only assume they were given only part of the ballot -- the second page of the two-page ballot with only state issues. The first page has the presidential race." Philip Cook said he was one of those four voters. He said the presidential ballots were at the voting place but had not been put into the correct folders before the polls opened. In Raleigh, North Carolina, one polling place couldn't open at 6:30 a.m. because its chief judge left the precinct's ballots in her grandson's pickup when he dropped her off, said Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher. The grandson drove off, and the poll worker couldn't track him down, Poucher said. The Board of Elections delivered new ballots, and voting began at 7:06 a.m., with about 300 people waiting in line, she said. "When the board meets today, I expect that they will vote to keep the precinct open an additional 36 minutes," Poucher added. Rain became a factor in Wake County after some paper optical-scan ballots got wet. "When we put the ballot through the scanner it is soggy and doesn't go through," Poucher said. "One ripped and got stuck when the voter tried to get it out," causing the optical scanner to malfunction. Poucher said voters with soggy ballots were being asked to deposit them in the emergency ballot box. When they are dried and the scanners are back up and running, the ballots will be put through the optical scanners, she said. 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. Fairfax County, Virginia, General Registrar Rokey Suleman said a handful of memory cards did not work when machines were started Tuesday morning. He said replacement memory cards already have been sent to those precincts with problems. A "very, very small number of machines" were affected, and voters at those locations could use paper ballots instead until the problem was corrected, Suleman said. The 228 precincts in the suburban Washington county use both optical scan and electronic voting machines. Suleman said there are long lines everywhere, but the elections board was prepared. People started lining up to vote at 4:30 a.m. ET for the polls to open at 6 a.m. iReport.com: Share your voting experience In New York, some polling places did not open as scheduled at 6 a.m. because they didn't have enough machines and poll workers were not ready, people on the scene reported. In Willingboro, New Jersey, broken voting machines were reported at the Penny Packer school, said Joe Dugan, chairman of the Burlington County Election Board. Dugan said a mechanic was working on the machines and they are expected to be repaired soon. In the meantime, voters were being given emergency ballots. Machine breakdowns also were reported in northern New Jersey, including Newark and Maplewood. Of the more than 11,000 problems reported to CNN's hotline by Monday, the largest number -- more than 1,500 -- came from Florida, where a hotly disputed recount settled the 2000 election. Another 450-plus originated in Ohio, where massive Election Day turnout in 2004 delayed the count. The biggest complaints were early voting lines stretching for several hours, names that did not appear on voter rolls and absentee ballots that never reached the people who requested them. Similar patterns showed up among callers nationwide. CNN will be tracking voter problems through Election Day. If you have or see a problem, or want to tell CNN about your voting experience, call the CNN Voter Hotline at 877-462-6608. See what issues are a concern in each state by clicking on the interactive hotline map at cnn.com/hotline. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/voting.problems/index.html 新闻来源: (需有正确连结) -- --

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