An Obama campaign legal adviser offered some thoughts in The Atlantic magazine why it took so long for so many voters to cast their ballots on election day. Many voters in Virginia, especially in South Hampton Roads, stood in line for hours after polls closed at 7 p.m. One of the biggest culprits, according to the adviser, is the lack of paper ballots at certain locations when lines run long.
Here's a snippet of the story:
"First, when lines get long, election officials should be required to distribute paper ballots. This requirement would compensate for too few machines at high-demand sites and for machine breakdowns (though it would not solve problems associated with checking in). In Virginia, as the extraordinary length of the lines became clear during election day, the state Democratic Party sought to persuade local and state election officials to distribute paper ballots, then went to court, unsuccessfully, to pursue this option. Paper ballots can help with high-turnout surprises on election day."
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