Va. Election Preparations Inadequate, Study Finds

"It is as good as we can get at this point," she said. "No matter how many voting machines we have out there, there is still going to be a wait. We ask people to bring their patience and comfortable shoes."

Common Cause and other voting rights groups have asked Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, to direct local registrars to have emergency paper ballots on hand for 40 percent of all registered voters. They also want her to order that paper ballots be used when voting machines become inoperative "because of the possibility of long lines that could result in voter disenfranchisement."

"We have asked her to exercise her unambiguous authority under state law to do this," said Karen Neuman, legal director for the Fair Elections Legal Network. She is scheduled to discuss the request with Rodrigues on Monday.

To deflect a rush on Election Day, officials are encouraging qualified voters to cast absentee ballots. Those include people who are kept away from home more than 11 hours in the workday, including commute time. Pregnant women, people traveling for business and primary caregivers for a relative confined at home also are eligible.

Weimer and Rokey W. Suleman II, Fairfax County's general registrar, also are urging people to vote absentee. "Every person who votes absentee is one less who is going to vote at the polls on Election Day, so that cuts down any problems," he said.

Suleman said he hopes that at least 10 percent of Fairfax's 680,852 registered voters vote by mailing in an absentee ballot or dropping it off at one of county's satellite early-polling places.

In 2004, 53,000 Fairfax residents voted by absentee ballot, which set a record, but Suleman said the county will probably "easily surpass" that record this year. Suleman said his office has mailed 27,000 absentee ballots this year. About 7,000 people have voted in person.

Staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this report.