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US electoral system flaws come to fore

SHAKHAWAT LlTON, from, Iowa. USA
As Republicans and Democrats are expecting record turnout in the November 4 US presidential election, experts fear loopholes in the electoral system may bring into question the fairness of the historic race.
The US which claims to have most successful democracy in human history has notyet been able to put in place a common electoral law across die country.
Each state regulates the electoral process with its own laws, which on many issues contradict those of other states. Legal experts term it discriminatory.
Dilemma over electoral roll database, misdesinged forms and possible malfunctioning of voting machines might cause serious problems in properly conducting the historic presidential election, experts observed. "It's true the electoral system of America is not perfect. There're many loopholes in the system that should be addressed," Ed Tibbetts, a senior journalist for Iowa's Quad-City Times, told this correspondent while discussing the electoral system.
A non-partisan group, Pew Centre on the States, lists at least 11 states where voters may have to wait long at polling booths due to the difficulties.
। "I’m expect-
! ing some serious problems," said Ken Warren, professor of political science at St Louis University in Missouri.
Time magazine in a recent report said the problems threaten to take the election to the courts again.
In Wisconsin, an August check of a new voter-registration database against other state records turned up a 22% match-failure rate, the Time report said. In Florida,
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nearly 9,000 new registrants have been flagged through the state's "No Match, No Vote" law.
In Ohio, Republicans have repeatedly gone to court to make public a list of more than 200,000 unmatched registrations, presumably so that those voters can be challenged at the polls.
According to Time, millions have been stripped from electoral roll in key states, but legitimacy of those eliminations remains unclear.
While talking to a group of foreign journalists on Wednesday, Gregory P Magarian, professor of law at Washington University in St Louis, highlighted some loopholes in the electoral process.
For example, a convicted felon can vote in Maine, but not in Virginia. A government-issued photo ID is required to cast vote in Indiana, but not in NewYork.
In Indiana, residents who attend state-run schools can use their IDs in many cases to cast votes, but students attending in private schools cannot enjoy the rights.
In Pennsylvania, first-time voters can use firearm permits or utility bills to identify themselves, and long-time voters do not have to show anything at all. In Georgia and Florida, gun permits do not help; all voters must come up with state or federal photo IDs at polling stations.
"Of course, it is a discrimination in the eyes of laws. It should be addressed. But our Supreme Court has not said anything about it," ProfMagarian said.
He said the electoral laws should be same for all states, not least in the presidential and other national elections.
On whether there is any political significance behind such discrimination, Prof Magarian said the provision for showing photo IDs was introduced to prevent fraud in the elections. But a survey conducted by the Justice Department after 2004 election found only 26 cases of fake voting.
Regardless of the debate and fear, this election has been billed as historic on many grounds. But whoever is elected on November 4, he will have to begin his journey in January amid economic meltdown.
Experts say the country has once again divided along racial lines. Most blacks are supporting Barack Obama. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin Thursday held a rally in Cap Girardeau at the Show Me Centre in Southest Missouri. A few thousand Republican supporters attended the rally. What was striking was that no blacks showed up there.
Manz said it is scaring, unprecedented.
EARLY VOTING
One of the reasons for early voting is to avoid long waits at polling booths. But complexities in the polling procedure take a voter long time to cast vote. A visit to an early-voting station on Saturday at Bettendorf Public Library in Iowa, a solid Democratic state, found a Jong queue of voters.
After entering the polling station, one must fill up a form showing reasons for voting early. Then they are provided with ballot papers that contain names of contenders who are running for posts at national and local levels.
One voter is entitled to cast over a dozen votes to elect as many officials.
Regardless of the complexities, people this time are showing interest in casting votes.
Emerging from the booth, Republican supporter Jeff Dykemay however said he does not think the voting procedure is complicated. People should take timeto vote, he said.
"We expect 40 percent voters will cast early vote this year," Wes Rosfenbanch, Scott County auditor in Iowa, told journalists. He said the total number of voters in Iowa is 12.3 lakh. This time, he said, they expect an 80 percent turnout.
He said according to the state electoral laws, one will be punished with $7,500 for casting fake votes. He said the voter list do not contain any photographs.
After casting her vote, Sujan Roggedorf, an administrative assistant, said she came to cast early vote to avoid long waits on Tuesday.
She said she cast her vote for Barack Obama because she believes he has the leadership quality to lead America into the desire^ change.