mark61
19-10-04, 09:58
People in Florida began casting their votes for US president on Monday, four years after a debacle in the state held up the 2000 election result.
Florida is one of 32 states where voters are allowed to make their choice before election day.
There were some reports of glitches with voting systems, including faulty ballots and a computer crash.
Both John Kerry and George Bush headed to Florida, to campaign in what is again proving to be a key battleground.
Mr Bush won the presidential election after taking Florida by just 537 votes following a controversial count in 2000.
Although the machines that caused confusion last time have been replaced, new electronic voting machines have already had problems.
Early voting also began in Arkansas, Colorado and Texas - where former President George Bush cast a ballot
And both sides have raised the possibility of legal challenges if the outcome is close in Florida or any other battleground.
In Palm Beach County, within an hour of polls opening, a Democratic state legislator claimed to have received an incomplete ballot, saying it was "not a good start".
In Orange County, the touch-screen system crashed.
Elsewhere, queues more than an hour long formed.
Lucien Gennaro, a police aide in Coral Springs, had to leave the queue to get to work, and said: "A lot of people who were waiting just left. I'll try again tomorrow. It was a little frustrating after what happened in 2000."
...
A Gallup poll for CNN and USA Today suggests Mr Bush is ahead among those who consider themselves likely to vote, but other surveys indicate that Mr Kerry is leading in the vital swing states, according to Reuters news agency.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3753016.stm
Florida is one of 32 states where voters are allowed to make their choice before election day.
There were some reports of glitches with voting systems, including faulty ballots and a computer crash.
Both John Kerry and George Bush headed to Florida, to campaign in what is again proving to be a key battleground.
Mr Bush won the presidential election after taking Florida by just 537 votes following a controversial count in 2000.
Although the machines that caused confusion last time have been replaced, new electronic voting machines have already had problems.
Early voting also began in Arkansas, Colorado and Texas - where former President George Bush cast a ballot
And both sides have raised the possibility of legal challenges if the outcome is close in Florida or any other battleground.
In Palm Beach County, within an hour of polls opening, a Democratic state legislator claimed to have received an incomplete ballot, saying it was "not a good start".
In Orange County, the touch-screen system crashed.
Elsewhere, queues more than an hour long formed.
Lucien Gennaro, a police aide in Coral Springs, had to leave the queue to get to work, and said: "A lot of people who were waiting just left. I'll try again tomorrow. It was a little frustrating after what happened in 2000."
...
A Gallup poll for CNN and USA Today suggests Mr Bush is ahead among those who consider themselves likely to vote, but other surveys indicate that Mr Kerry is leading in the vital swing states, according to Reuters news agency.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3753016.stm