And in unrelated news:

WASHINGTON — Eight weeks before elections that will decide control of Congress, a rush by state and local governments to prepare new voting machines and train poll workers is raising the possibility of trouble reminiscent of the 2000 presidential election standoff.

Problems range from delayed delivery of new equipment to an insufficient supply of trained technicians to fix anticipated problems, voting experts say.

Already this year, glitches have occurred in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Maryland became the latest on Tuesday, when technical problems, human errors and staff shortages led officials to keep some polls open an extra hour.

The fall elections shape up as the most technologically perilous since 2000, election officials say, because 30% of the nation’s voting jurisdictions will be using new equipment. They include large parts of Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, scenes of key Senate races. “If you’re ever going to have a problem, it’s going to be that first election,” says Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services.

And this:

WASHINGTON - Leaders of a voting-rights center that successfully sued Florida, Washington, Ohio and other states over their election laws said Wednesday that tens of thousands of eligible voters will be prevented from casting ballots in November.

Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School, said federal and state voting changes since the disputed 2000 presidential election have produced new threats to eligible voters.

Several states have overreacted to the 2002 Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress to prevent a repeat of the 2000 stalemate, by passing draconian laws and imposing rigid regulations on voter registration, Waldman said.

“Most of the significant voter suppression in this country happens not on Election Day, but before Election Day,” he said.

Waldman cited serious problems in a dozen states.