A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of Montgomery County Board of Elections spokeswoman Marjorie Roher.
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Md. Panel Calls for More Voting Machines, Hotline
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"I have to say that in every corner of the state, we heard that voters have serious concerns about wanting there to be a paper trail, wanting to ensure there is some way to check on the integrity of the electronic voting system," said Ifill, the co-chairman.
The group was also chaired by Orlan Johnson, a partner in the law firm Saul Ewing.
Local and state election officials said yesterday that they are preparing for heavy turnout in November.
In Prince George's, Elections Administrator Alisha L. Alexander said the county's Board of Elections has 17 full-time staff members, compared with eight during the 2006 primary election. A budget under consideration by the County Council would increase the board's staff by one, she said.
"Although not enough, it's a huge improvement from where we were," Alexander said.
She also said the county's board will take state guidance when allocating voting machines to polling places. A state analysis after the 2006 November election found that only one-third of Prince George's polling places were provided with the number of machines required by law because machines were apportioned using outdated voter registration information.
In Montgomery, Board of Elections spokeswoman Marjorie Rohrer said election officials will for the first time formally urge voters to cast absentee ballots to reduce lines.
But she said Montgomery's problems in September 2006 were mostly fixed in time for the general election two months later and noted that the February primary ran smoothly. She said she fears that dwelling on problems in 2006 could undermine confidence in a process that is largely effective. "From my personal standpoint, it's a dead issue," she said.
At the state level, Deputy Elections Administrator Ross Goldstein said technological issues with electronic poll books that caused trouble in 2006 have been solved. He encouraged voters concerned about lines to visit polls at off-peak hours. And he said patience might be in order.
"I just heard that people waited overnight to get this new video game that came out -- Grand Theft Auto IV," he said. "There's some perspective on this. We want to make sure the process moves as smoothly as possible, but there will sometimes be a rush."
