Voting hampered by faulty machines

While there are staggering numbers of voters lining up at the polling stations across the country, the problems facing them is earning more than a little criticism. Wet hands and clothing has caused problems as dampened voting slips created havoc with some machines and were unable to be counted [Washington Post]. In many locations machines simply broke down resulting in further delays for the long queues of voters. In Pennsylvania, Bethlehem, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have reported a number of problems with voting machine malfunctions in, as well as major breakdowns at three precincts in Allegheny County. CBS confirmed with state officials that there were several machine malfunctions throughout the state.

In Ohio a car hit a pole supporting a power line, cutting supplies to two polling stations for more than an hour. The long queues have put some people off. Some potential voters told ITN News they couldn’t wait all day in the queue as they had to go to work, or simply had other things to do. For a country which can put men on the moon it is somewhat surprising that such situations occur at all. In fact days and weeks before the election, some were already predicting potential problems [CNN].