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Voters encountering problems at polling stations may call 866-OUR-VOTE on polling day. The hotline is run by Election Protection, a non-partisan, non-profit voting rights organization.
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Voting machines(Photo: Mr. Spencer Green / AP)
WASHINGTON – Voters from across the country are going to the polls today for the first national election since 2016 amid expectations of long queues, potential irregularities in polls – and this time, more and more the suspicion that the entire electoral process could be vulnerable to piracy or forgery.
A range of federal agencies are about to monitor what is happening, including the Justice and Homeland Security ministries, intelligence officials and the FBI.
"Our agencies have worked in unprecedented ways to combat the efforts of influence and to help local and national authorities to ensure the security of our elections, especially to strengthen the electoral infrastructure against any interference," they said. in a joint statement.
Federal and state officials – who received $ 380 million this year to strengthen their electoral systems – deployed sensors on local networks to try to detect intrusions.
But the biggest threat can come from attempts to influence voters with misinformation campaigns. Monday night, Facebook revealed that it had removed more than 100 accounts with a coordinated activity in French, English and Russian, highlighting the possibility that foreign players have tried to meddle in elections.
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"Americans should be aware that foreign actors – and Russia in particular – continue to try to influence public opinion and voter perceptions through actions aimed at sowing discord," he said. said DHS Secretary General Kirstjen Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Bureau Dan Coats and Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI. "The American public can limit these efforts by staying informed, reporting suspicious activity and being vigilant as consumers of information."
At the same time, the Electoral Assistance Commission sent observers from polling stations throughout the country. Several non-governmental organizations have set up call centers to handle complaints and provide badistance to voters.
The Election Protection Coalition, a group of more than 100 civil rights and voting groups, has hired thousands of volunteers in 20 centers across the country. Marica Johnson-Blanco, co-director of the project on voting rights in the committee of lawyers for civil rights under the law, said expect that the number of appeals to the service of the civil service. the 866-OUR-VOTE coalition's telephone support, equal to or over 120,000 calls made. the 2016 presidential election.
"Voters are very interested in these elections," she said.
We will update this story throughout the day (and night) with all the issues that come up during the voting. Here are some key points we are watching:
Florida
Open pollsat 7 o'clock in the state of Sunshine. For the people of the Panhandle devastated by Hurricane Michael just a few weeks ago, it means going into an badortment of "voting supercentres" in churches, county election offices and, to Panama, a shopping center.
Voters in the region are strongly Republicans and could tip the scales in the Senate between current Republican governor Rick Scott and incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. They could also compete in the GOP representative Ron DeSantis's contest with the Democratic mayor of Tallahbadee, Andrew Gillum.
The last two governors' races were decided by less than 66,000 votes. There are about 200,000 registered voters in the handful of counties damaged by the hurricane, including 120,000 in Bay County, which includes devastated Mexico Beach in addition to Panama.
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"I encourage all Florida voters to go to the polls and exercise their right to vote," state secretary Ken Detzner said in an update poll. "Voters can even fill out their voting ballot example and bring it with them to the polling place to facilitate and speed up the voting of their official ballot."
More than 5 million Floridians have already voted by mail or in advance, according to the Detzner office. This far exceeds the 3.2 million people who voted by mail or advance in 2014 – a possible sign that participation could be strong today.
Georgia
This battle took place well before polling day, following allegations that two-county voting machines did not correctly record votes in a court confrontation in front of more than 51,000 registered registrations.
Stacey Abrams, Democratic presidential nominee and former legislator, is virtually tied to recent polls by Republican candidate, Georgian Secretary of State Brian Kemp. According to the most recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Channel 2 Action News survey, Abrams was at 46.9% and Kemp at 46.7%.
Abrams has called Kemp "a remarkable architect in the crackdown on voters" during an appearance in "The Daily Show", and his supporters fear that any controversy will actually intimidate voters and decrease the rate of participation. But some scholars think this could have the opposite effect.
"I think this is going to have a mobilizing effect," said political scientist Charles Bullock of the University of Georgia. "This could bring to the polls people who did not otherwise wish to vote, but simply to demonstrate that they had that right and that they will protect their rights."
Earlier voting has already broken records: the Kemp office reports nearly 2.1 million votes cast. That compares with about 940,000 in 2014, according to Georgia Votes.
"Clearly, people are keeping an eye on Georgia for recording issues, but one of the things we really see beyond these kinds of problems is that they're not going to be there." there is such an interest in voting this year that the lines are really long everywhere, "said Viki Harrison, director of state operations for Common Cause, a member of the coalition for the protection of elections.
Ohio
Voters in the Cincinnati metropolitan area had to face long queues and some technical problems when they voted Tuesday morning. Election officials said voters and election officials were troubled by a change in voting machine system that now warns voters that they have "voted", or whether they have left certain races on their blank ballots. Electronic voting machines reportedly rejected ballots that had not been completely filled.
Ohioians vote for new governor, choosing between Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine. They also have a race in the Senate – current Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown faces Republican Jim Renacci. Cordray and Brown have the preference, according to USA TODAY in Inside Elections's outlook.
Texas
Texans who voted early in the vote reported problems with voting machines changing some of their selections, which, according to state officials, was linked to the Hart eSlate machines used in approximately 30% of counties in the state. They said that this could happen when users filled and submitted ballots too quickly. Voters must recheck their selections on the screen before submitting their ballots.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will face Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke in a closely watched race in that state. Cruz had a 6% lead on polling day in the RealClearPolitics average.
Another contest that draws national attention is that of Pete Sessions, acting representative of the House of Representatives, and his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, a civil rights lawyer and former NFL Tanssee Titans football player. The average poll in this race shows Allred leading with 46% to 42%.
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Contributor: Nicquel Terry Ellis, Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer Journalist
More: Mid-term: Russian national charged with conspiracy to plot election
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More: Mid-term: hurricanes leave election officials struggling to hold elections while tight races are at stake
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