One Thing that will Most Probably Go Wrong on the Election Day!?

Ever wondered what can possibly go wrong tomorrow? Although we can say a lot of things can happen on the Election Day. Starting from the stocks markets taking a plunge or going the other way round, to probably a terrorist attack in some part of the world. But all things will happen despite of the fact that the presidential election will be taking place in one part of the world called America.

Our point of concern is however, not the “may happen” problems that are not in any way directly related to the much awaited election. So for a while consider, what can obviously or most probably go wrong during the election tomorrow? Well, for one thing there is a probability that voters of many states will be facing problems at polling places.

Let’s have a cross-sectional analysis of all the possible factors that are capable of eventually leading to major problems at polling place during the election. Almost half of all the voters will be voting in way that is entirely different from the last time when they voted in the presidential election. Most of the voters will be using ballot papers that the touch screen voting machines to cast their vote that has caused concern among voting experts.

The changed voting system thus, by no means guarantees a smooth election day. Problems will arise, beginning from voting machines break downs to shortage of ballot papers in some states. A possible factor that may also trigger the polling problems will be the huge turnout expected on polling places due to the very uniqueness of this presidential elections 2008 itself.

About two thirds of voters will be marking their choice with pencil on ballot papers. These ballot papers have their own set of disadvantages starting from the scanning issues whereby scanning machines can break down to improper filling of ballot papers that will then be disqualified from the count. There is yet another problem of counting audit of ballot papers in many states as there have been instances of foul play during the audit of votes in past elections.

Again, another very important factor is that about a fourth of voters will be using the electronic machines that offer no paper record to verify that their choice was accurately recorded. Plus these machines are equally vulnerable to hacking and crashes that add up to the votes drop. This problem is likely to be faced by voters in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Around eight states which will be using touch screen machines with paper trails include Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, and South Carolina.

Some of the symptoms of the possible voting problems surfacing at polling stations in different states have already seemed to show up. Calvin Thomas 81, who wanted to vote early in Ripley, W.Va and is an Obama supporter, got really disturbed when he casted the Democratic ticket and the machine jumped it to the Republican ticket. Same thing happened to many more people who went out to vote early but found the machines showing glitches. Although these problems were fixed later on but they left many voters wondering, why such a system has been pre-maturely adopted for such an important event when it is still not error-free?

Still a few hours left before the highly anticipated Election Day begins, and we can only hope that everything goes smooth tomorrow. There is always a chance of error in everything in such cases but what best one can do is be prepared with the contingency plans all set. And most of all, try avoiding doing things for the first time without getting them pre-tested and approved before time. Remember, “Every Vote Counts” so no matter what goes wrong, do go out and VOTE!