COUNTY POLL WORKERS ARMED WITH TRAINING, CELL PHONES.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

With a crush of voters expected to at the polls today, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack expressed optimism Monday that her 24,000 poll workers have been adequately trained to handle any problems that develop.

As an extra precaution, the county has supplied each of its 4,604 polling places with cellular telephones and given 396 others to roving troubleshooters.

``Our office will now have the ability for the first time to instantly communicate with each of the county's voting precincts,'' McCormack said.

``Situations typically arise that require quick communication with our precinct inspectors. Additionally, if any emergency or natural disaster were to occur, we would have the ability to simultaneously contact all 4,604 precinct inspectors.

But despite McCormack's optimistic outlook, election experts say the county and state are likely to share in some of the election chaos expected nationwide.

As of late Monday afternoon, the Election Protection Coalition, a group of 60 nonprofit organizations handing out voter information pamphlets at polling locations nationwide, had received 8,076 election-incident reports, mostly involving voter registration and absentee and provisional ballot problems.

``Elections have always been messy because they are handled by election poll workers of varying degrees of competency,'' said political analyst Allan Hoffenblum. ``It's the dirty little secret that campaign consultants have known for years: that elections are not perfect and mistakes do happen. But it's only when the races are close that people care.''

This is the first election for which real-time reports of election problems have been available on the Web, at www.verifiedvoting.org.

A total of 630 voter problems had been reported by late Monday in California, including 350 in Los Angeles County. These election incidents involved 223 voter registration, 48 absentee ballot and three voter intimidation problem reports.

``We are seeing a significant number of problems related to early voting and we expect there will be more significant problems (today),'' said Will Doherty, executive director of the Verified Voting Foundation and a member of the coalition.

He was especially concerned with electronic voting machines being used in 10 California counties.

``The problem with paperless electronic voting machines is there is no paper ballot to fall back upon if there is a problem, and you have to do a recount,'' he said.

A Field Poll released Monday of 1,216 registered voters in California found that 35 percent are not confident in the integrity of the new electronic voting process.

The poll also found that two-thirds of voters expect problems at the polls in some states that will call into question the presidential election results, and 18 percent say they are not confident that whoever is declared the winner in the presidential election will have won fairly.

In addition to potential problems with electronic voting machines, the rush of hundreds of thousands of people statewide to register to vote in the last few weeks could create problems. This surge in late registration is expected to result in more voters casting provisional ballots at polling places because their names weren't added to official precinct lists.

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has estimated that 73 percent of the state's registered voters will cast ballots today - a record 12 million voters. Roughly two-thirds will vote at polling places and one-third will have voted by absentee ballot.

Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, agreed that the biggest problems in California will be related to people who registered at the last minute and whose names are not on the rolls.

``People who are not on the rolls can cast a provisional ballot, but the challenge for some of these voters will be in locating their polling place,'' Alexander said. ``We are getting quite a number of calls from voters in Los Angeles County asking about their registration status.''

McCormack said most of the poll workers and polling locations that canceled in recent weeks have been replaced, and she is confident that her workers are prepared for many of the problems people fear.

For the first time in history, McCormack said, all 24,000 poll workers have gone to training classes. Normally, just 80 percent receive training.

``We are ready for the onslaught today,'' McCormack said. ``If voters have flexibility in their schedule and can vote midday, rather than first thing in the morning, that would be advisable. The first thing in the morning, traditionally, has the worst lines.''

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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