in line behind hundreds of other voters. Counties all over the East Coast and Midwest are reporting long lines.Â
There have not been any reports of broken voting machines, so the long lines are likely a result of record high voter turnout. Experts are predicting the highest voter turnout since 1960. However, MSNBC reported that human error might be the cause of problems in Kansas City, Missouri, where election officials may have the wrong voter lists.Â
Missouri, with 11 electoral college votes, is one of several toss-up states that McCain and Obama are counting on to reach the 270 electoral votes necessary to win. Other swing states that are experiencing problems include Virginia and Pennsylvania.Â
Virginia has voted Republican since 1964, but now its 13 electoral votes are up for grabs, reports Reuters. More than 150 people were lined up in the rain outside a polling place in Fairfax County, Virginia, before voting began.Â
Allegations of voter suppression have surfaced in Virginia, where the race for president is very close. The NAACP, in a federal lawsuit, demanded that a judge extend poll hours and add voting machines to black precincts in Virginia, but a judge refused late Monday. The group says that minority neighborhoods would experience overwhelming turnout and there weren’t enough electronic machines.Â
With no early voting in Pennsylvania, expectations are that the lines will be very long there today. This situation could also be compounded if the technical problems that plagued Pennsylvania polling places during the 2008 primaries haven’t been fixed. In South Philadelphia during the primaries several voting machines broke down in areas that had a Democratic stronghold.Â
Today, more than 160 people were lined up to vote by the time polls opened at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Over the last month the candidates have vigorously crisscrossed Pennsylvania, a traditionally Democratic state with 21 electoral votes.
In Oklahoma, after news of two to three hours waits on Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, state Election Board Secretary Michael Clingman had about another 100,000 ballots printed, according to the Oklahoman.