If you’re like me, you’ve had enough of the political blather this election season. The Bush Tax Cuts, enacted under the Bush Administration in 2001 and 2003, reduced tax burdens for married couples, families with children, and low-income households. They also increased existing tax credits, including those for education. In total, the Bush Cuts reduced tax rates on all sorts of income, including dividends and capital gains from investments. President Obama wants to extend most of Bush’s reductions but only for individuals who earn less than $200,000 (and families making $250,000 annually). Republicans want the tax cuts extended for everyone.

The first political showdown of 2011 is likely to be over the Bush Tax Cuts, which is why today’s elections are so important. There are three possibilities for the outcome: 1) Congress and the Administration will do nothing and the tax cuts will expire; 2) Republicans will get their way and extend the cuts; or 3) the Obama White House will get its way and increase taxes, but on wealthier families and individuals.

Republicans and Democrats are tossing around accusations about how both proposals will affect you and me. But at this point, all I really want to know is: “Will my taxes be higher in 2011?”

For months now, I’ve had trouble making sense of the claims from Democrats and Republicans on the Bush Tax Cut issue—until I recently discovered this tax calculator built by the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan tax education group. Plug in your income, number of dependents, and other data, and the site tabulates your expected 2011 tax burden under each of the three possible scenarios being debated (as well as under a separate congressional Democrat plan).

If tax anger determines who you’ll vote for on November 2nd, don’t go to the polls without first calculating the taxes you’ll owe under Democratic and Republican plans.Without giving away too much of my personal particulars, here’s how the calculator told me: My 2011 taxes would be highest if Washington lets the cuts expire. My burden would be lowest under the Obama proposal. Which plan is better for you?

See six more ways your taxes could increase in 2011.

Florida’s Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has a difficult decision ahead of him: Should he abandon the GOP and continue his bid to represent the state in the U.S. Senate as an independent?  Crist has until April 30 to make up his mind, but in the meantime, one CBC member whispered in BE.com’s ear, Rep. Kendrick Meek, who also has his sights set on the Senate, “is grinning from ear to ear.”

That’s because the state’s Republican Party may be imploding, which could potentially boost Meek’s prospects. In addition to Crist’s possible defection, the IRS and the FBI reportedly are investigating more than two dozen party and elected officials for using party-issued credit cards for personal expenses. The group includes Crist’s Republican primary opponent Marco Rubio, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives in Florida and current Tea Party darling.

Meek said he expects to win in the fall, but in the meantime, he added, “We don’t want to get in the middle of what’s going on with the GOP and internal politics. But, I can tell you that what the GOP is talking about now, especially the leadership in Florida, is not what Floridians want to hear as it relates to getting people back to work.”

David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said recent surveys have found the three candidates essentially tied if Crist runs as an independent. Meek’s success at the polls in November will depend on how well he can turn out his base. More than two-third of Florida’s voters are non-white, Bositis added, and Obama got 43% of the overall vote there in 2008.

“If Meek got a large turnout and an independent Crist got a significant portion of Republic votes, it could come down to the wire in a general election,” said Bositis.

No Voting Rights for D.C.

The District of Columbia lost yet another opportunity to gain a vote in Congress this week. During his weekly pen and pad session with reporters Tuesday, a visibly disappointed House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced that a vote on the legislation had been removed from the floor schedule. The decision was made after consulting with D.C.’s nonvoting delegate. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a longtime voting rights advocate, found language added to the bill that would restrict the District’s right to enact gun control laws risible.

Hoyer said that he was “profoundly disappointed” that Congress would not consider legislation that would give 600,000 District residents a vote in the House, but “the price was too high.”

According to Norton, despite concerns about the gun issues, she had spent the past year pushing the bill forward because the current majorities in the House and Senate may not exist after November, making the vote that had been scheduled for Thursday its best chance for passage. She asked Hoyer to cancel the vote because of “three outrageous provisions” in an updated version of the bill that made the gun amendment “even worse than I thought was possible,” Norton explained in a statement, and because those changes would cause anti-gun senators to drop their support.

Under the provisions added to the bill, the District would be barred from prohibiting people from carrying concealed weapons; the right of the city’s police chief to refuse the issuance of concealed carry licenses would be severely limited; and the District would be unable to prohibit guns in city-controlled buildings or structures that don’t have security measures in place to detect them. A fourth would prevent residential and commercial building owners from restricting or prohibiting firearm possession by tenants.

“These provisions are so over the top, they are unworthy of serious consideration,” Norton said.
Although Hoyer was pessimistic about the prospect of getting a vote on the legislation during this Congress, Norton said that she is already exploring ways to get a voting rights bill passed this year.

Arbitron Reaches Agreement on Measuring Minority Audiences

Minority broadcasters and Arbitron finally reached an agreement Thursday regarding the use of the Portable People Meter. Throughout the long-running dispute, the broadcasters have claimed that the electronic measurement device undercounted minority audiences.

Arbitron has agreed to begin in-person recruiting in high-density black and Hispanic neighborhoods in July, which will enable the company to reach young minority adults who may not have landline phones at home. It also will implement address-based sampling so that landline recruiting will be more accurate. Additional initiatives include increasing by 10% the PPM sample size for people aged 18-54; forming a minority leadership council and expanding advertiser outreach for minority radio.

“We have been talking with Arbitron for more than three years about PPM, and I am pleased that we have been able to come to an agreement for moving forward,” said Jim Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters.

The accord was reached at the bequest of Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Towns had warned the parties that if they couldn’t find a solution, Congress would. He believed that undercounting minorities decreased both airwave diversity and minority broadcasters’ bottom lines and held several hearings on the issue.

“With this agreement, I believe that minority listeners will be counted and minority-owned radio stations will work more closely in a collaborative effort to ensure the accuracy of ratings,” said Towns. “My committee will closely monitor progress on implementing this agreement.”IRS Encourages Small Businesses to Check Out Healthcare Credit

More often than not, receiving something in the mail from the IRS is not good. But for once the agency has some positive news to share and is mailing postcards to small businesses to alert them to a healthcare tax credit they may immediately qualify for.

Small firms that pay at least half the cost of single coverage for their employees this year are eligible for a tax credit specifically created to help businesses and tax-exempt organizations whose employees are primarily low and moderate income workers. For the next three years, the maximum credit will be 35% of premiums paid by small businesses and 25% for the tax-exempts.

The mailing, said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, is intended to encourage small businesses to learn more about the credit and to take advantage of it if they qualify. The postcard can be viewed here.

Small Business Programs Given Three-Month Extension

The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs and others that fall under the Small Business Investment Act and were set to expire on April 30 have been given a lifeline. The U.S. Senate gave the programs, which were already operating under a temporary extender, a three-month extension this week and the measure will now go to the House for a vote. According to the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, the two chambers are still trying to negotiate “a longer, more comprehensive agreement.”

The SBIR program has generated more than 84,000 patents and millions of jobs and small businesses employ 41% of the nation’s high-tech workers. It is used by eleven federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation.

“Over the next three months, I encourage the entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers looking for jobs, or waiting for a chance to explore a promising and innovative idea, to apply for research projects through these programs. SBIR and STTR entrepreneurs start businesses, create jobs and account for 25 percent of our nation’s innovators, and we are ready to support them and their businesses,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu, chair of the Senate small business panel.

“The Republican renaissance has begun. It has begun in earnest, in which we put our faith in the hopes and dreams of the American people to rebuild our economy from the bottom up, not the big deficit spending plans and policies of the politicians in Washington or our state capitals,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

Obama, according to exit polls in both states, maintains a level of popularity that clearly didn’t extend itself to the Democratic candidates. Steele said their defeats are not a referendum on the president, but are definitely a rejection of his policies.

“Certainly, the president has put forth policies that are–are different, controversial, but I think out of the mainstream of where America is. America doesn’t want the federal government running its health care. America doesn’t want the federal government buying its cars for it and telling them what cars to drive. America doesn’t want the federal government running its banks,” said Steele.

Jim McLaughlin, COO and partner in the Republican polling and consulting firm McLaughlin & Associates, says the election results were most definitely a referendum on not just the president but also House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., California) and Washington politics in general. He asserts that candidate Obama presented himself as a moderate who would cut deficits, reject earmarks and would not raise taxes. Voters are feeling as though he and Pelosi have betrayed those principles.

“In focus groups, especially among Independent voters, people will say they voted [last year] for Obama and a Democratic candidate, and they’re still rooting for Obama, but have real reservations over bailouts, the stimulus, and especially the spending,” he explains.

The takeaway for the Republican Party, he adds, will be to find mainstream conservatives, like Governors-elect Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Chris Christie of New Jersey, who eschewed, choosing instead to focus on the issues that weigh most heavily on voters’ minds: jobs and the economy. And instead of maintaining a reputation as the party of no, Republican lawmakers will have to put out their own ideas on issues like healthcare.

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Alabama), who has launched a campaign for the governor’s mansion in his home state, argues that the results were based solely on the individual candidates and local circumstances. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, he says, was viewed as unsuccessful and Creigh Deeds simply was unable to capture the imaginations of the voters in Virginia.

Pointing to the surprisingly close race between New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and opponent Bill Thompson, the city’s former comptroller, Davis says, “If the Democratic Party had been fully engaged in New York and put some money into it, it could have been the upset of the century. So the reality is don’t think you can take very much from yesterday.”

Analysts were also keeping a close eye on the special election in New York’s 23rd District, which, surprisingly, Democrat Bill Owens won. According to David Bositis, senior research analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, he’s the first to win that district since 1782.

“It was the one race that clearly had national implications and Owens campaigned on healthcare reform,” says Bositis. He believes that derails Republican assertions that voters are disgruntled with the Democratic agenda, arguing instead that it’s just been a bad year for incumbents.

Still, he adds, there are lessons for Democrats to learn. “They need to pass healthcare reform because they’ll be in trouble if they don’t. People will think they’re ineffectual and won’t vote for them,” Bositis cautions. “And even more t than before, they need to time themselves to Obama.

Randal Pinkett, Ph.D.

On Nov. 4, 2008, Americans of all races, creeds and colors voted for change—and we poured into the streets with absolute joy and pride in what we accomplished as a nation. It was a proud and profound moment for America.

But we cannot rest on the laurels of 2008 and expect that to sustain our objectives into the future. The mission was not accomplished on Nov. 4, 2008– it has only just begun. The most powerful thing we have as Americans is our voice and we must ensure it is heard loud and clear in the upcoming elections. Do not think that what you voted for nationally will be enacted locally.

It is critical that voters go to the polls on Nov. 3 in full force to continue the momentum gained in 2008 and empower the local leaders who will support our President and our ideals.

The Yes We Can 2.0 campaign was created to ensure that the success of the 2008 election is carried out in policy and practice by electing local and state officials who share those same principles. Based on respect, empowerment and inclusion, the campaign reminds Americans of the power of their own voice.

Critical issues such as economic growth, accessible and affordable healthcare, tax relief for the middle class and quality public education for all are being debated in real time.

I encourage all of us to be a part of the conversation and to speak with our vote on Nov. 3. I will speak with my vote in my home state of New Jersey. Like Virginia, we will be electing a governor. These two gubernatorial races will set the stage for the mid-term 2010 elections when 37 governships, 38 Senate seats, and the entire House of Representatives are up for re-election. We all should think about our future and VOTE.

We don’t want “Yes We Can” to turn into “Too Bad We Didn’t.” Think globally and nationally, but, remember, you can also affect change by voting locally.

See you at the polls!

Randal Pinkett, Ph.D., is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, a multimillion dollar management, technology and policy consulting firm based in Newark, NJ. He was also the Season 4 Winner of NBC’s hit reality television show The Apprentice with Donald Trump.

Update: CBS and MSNBC project a win for Obama in Ohio. MSNBC shows Obama ahead 53% to McCain’s 45%. So far, 30% of precincts have tallied votes. If correct, Obama will take Ohio’s 20 electoral votes, turning the state that voted for President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, into Democratic territory.

West Virginia closed polls at 7:30 p.m. CNN reports a win for McCain in West Virginia bringing his electoral vote count to 13 versus Obama’s three.

A ballot from the Ascension Church in West Palm Beach. (Source: Getty Images)

 
Minor malfunctions in scanning devices in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando dampened the mood of Florida’s election officials, but a mid-morning lull allowed tech support groups to handle the problems.

Following a mad rush of voters waiting for polls to open, the majority of locations saw voter traffic dwindling to a slow but steady stream. Voters that showed up in the 10:00 a.m. to noon window appeared shocked to avoid waiting in line. Officials attributed the let-up to the record early and absentee votes cast in the last month. Poll workers at Lakeland’s Lake Gibson United Methodist Church took advantage of the break to enjoy pizza before the after-work onslaught.

The Central Florida area between the outskirts of Tampa and Orlando is a curious mix of old Florida, with agriculture, aging industrialization, and a rapidly expanding urban sprawl. McCain’s success is critical in this area to offset Obama’s strength in more populated areas. However, McCain cannot take this area for granted as evidenced by a self-described as an elderly, white, independent voter who hasn’t voted since casting her ballot for Bill Clinton.

She explained that since Clinton, no one has moved her quite the way Obama does. She mentioned her adult children who work hard and still struggle. Her belief was that Obama had a much better understanding of the middle class and would best help the country.

Pat Barton, a Republican, voted for McCain saying, “He represents what I believe as an American, and Obama’s inexperience scares me.” Referring to Obama, she says, “I pray the wisdom of this young man coming in (Obama) will unify us. I don’t know why but it seems we as a nation are heading in different directions.”

If only hanging chads were the country’s biggest headache this election year. Instead, voting irregularities in 2008 are taking the form of faulty voting machines, confusing ballots, hours-long waits in line, missing absentee ballots, and unfiled voter registration forms.

Long lines were the most exasperating problem affecting early voters for this election. States that allowed early voting saw record waiting times, some lasting more than five hours. Many states instituted early voting as a solution to long lines on Election Day, only to find that lines before Election Day can be just as worrisome.

With 10 million extra voters descending on polls this year compared to 2004, early voting seemed like a plausible remedy to the long lines. However, voters who can’t physically stand for long periods of time, who need to return to work, or to care for a small child or elderly relative are still finding that voting is a huge inconvenience.

These long lines can be a result of faulty voting machines; a problem that still plagues some states four years after the voting machine debacle of 2004 that left some predominantly democratic areas in Ohio with only one working machine for thousands of voters.

This time around, instead of just breaking down, machines are also flipping votes. For example, in West Virginia’s Jackson County, voters are reporting that voting machines are recording the wrong vote.

Workers who tested voting machines in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, found that the vote for president was not being logged. Election officials said that real voters never used the machines and attributed the problems to screen calibration issues, which once calibrated disappeared.

Experts are predicting that voter turnout will be higher this year than the 2004 turnout and it may be the highest turnout since 1960, reported the Associated Press on Friday. A higher voter turnout means that these isolated problems might be much more widespread on Election Day. More than 29 million people in 30 states have already voted, according to partial state and county data provided to the Associated Press.

In an effort to get a handle on all of the voting irregularities and help voters who are confused about their registration status on Election Day the Election Protection Coalition created a “Hot Map” at www.OurVoteLive.org. The site collects, analyzes, and projects data from call centers across the country onto this live map, which provides detail about the location and nature of problem calls. In addition to the thousands of calls they’ve already been receiving on a daily basis, the organization expects over 200,000 voter requests for information and assistance on Election Day.

As of Election Day eve, almost 5,500 problems across the country have been reported to the Web site. Some of the more recent ones feature newly posted reports that Indiana voters have been turned away as voting centers are closing at noon, robo calls or automated calls were made in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, deceptively informing voters to vote on Nov. 5 instead of Nov. 4, and in Ohio voters were falsely told that they can send in absentee ballots as late as November 14.

According to Jonah Goldman, an election protection spokesman, some states including voters in California, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Ohio and other places have not yet received their absentee ballots. Many of these states have a backlog of registrations and have failed to mail out absentee ballots in time. In New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida reports says that registrations have not been added to the database due to understaffing of election administration workers. These backlogs could mean that new voters may not get on the rolls.

Voters are reporting problems with registration status in states like Louisiana and Texas that experienced natural disasters. Galveston County election officials advised displaced voters to avoid Election Day problems by taking advantage of early voting or by casting an absentee ballot. However, officials stopped short of creating “super precincts” which would have allowed Galveston’s 187,000 registered voters, many who have been displaced, to vote at any county precinct on Nov. 4.

Victims of recent hurricanes aren’t the only voters who find that their location might prevent them from voting. Electionline.org, also a project of the Pew Center on the States, reported yesterday that even some U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan may not get to vote because they received the wrong type of ballots.

Americans all over the country are wondering about the validity of a rumor that was forwarded to voters by e-mail in several states. It warned that if voters choose to cast a straight-ticket or straight-party ballot, they could inadvertently not vote for president of the United States.

Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama also warned voters at a rally in North Carolina Oct. 29 about straight-ticket voting. “When you do vote, you have to vote in two steps—one for president, and one for the rest of the ticket. If you vote for a straight ticket, you have not voted in the presidential election. You need to vote for president separately,” Obama said.

His instructions were accurate for voters in North Carolina, but in other states that offer straight-ticket voting, that advice is incorrect. Straight-ticket voting is allowed in 15 states, but only one state, North Carolina, actually decouples the presidential race from the other races on the ballot. Oklahoma ballots are broken up into four sections—presidential, congressional, statewide races, and county and local races—and voters can vote straight party tickets for each section if they choose.

The Obama campaign set up a Website listing the states that offer straight-ticket voting and explains how voting in North Carolina differs from the other straight ticket states.

“There are clear instructions in all of these states as to how voters should go about making their selection for president [first] and then vote for down ballot candidates,” says Donna Brazile, a strategist for the Democratic Party. “The voting education is there but, as always, we are [making sure they understand by] doing radio spots and day-to-day communications on the ground as we canvas those communities.”

Individuals who do not wish to vote along party lines for every office on the ballot can vote normally. Some people prefer to vote by straight ticket because they are highly affiliated with one party and it saves time, compared with casting a single vote for each office.

Recently, voters who were worried that their vote for the presidency wouldn’t count went back over their ballot to mark or select each individual office. With the exception of North Carolina, it is not necessary to make individual partisan office selections after selecting a straight-ticket vote.

Unfortunately, this type of “emphasis voting” made matters worse during a 2006 election in Texas, where touch-screen computers counted 1% of the votes wrong when voters chose the straight ticket option.

On a touch-screen voting machine, reselecting each vote after already casting a straight-ticket vote will deselect the original vote, resulting in a vote for no one, says Larry Norden, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan public policy and law institute.

“If there is a very close race, all of these things can add up and make a difference,” Norden says. “We learned that from the 2000 [presidential] elections in Florida.” In that election, flawed ballot design and voter error allowed President George W. Bush to beat Vice President Al Gore by a few hundred votes in Florida, the state that decided the election.

Since the candidates are only three points apart, with Obama in the lead, if voters mistakenly neglect to vote for president when voting straight ticket, the outcome of the election in North Carolina could affect the entire presidential race.

Yet, despite the confusion, there are benefits to voting a straight-ticket ballot. Particularly, it will speed up the voting process in states that are experiencing long lines during early voting. But Norden cautions that voters who choose to vote straight ticket will still need to vote in judicial races because those are nonpartisan.

“I think in general, people should review their ballots carefully. Often people are in a hurry once they finally get to the voting booth,” Norden says. “If you are voting on a touch-screen machine, there is a review screen at the end that you should look at to make sure all of your choices are there.”

The following states use straight-ticket voting:

Alabama
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin

First the foreclosure issue in Michigan, and now…

Drumroll …

A fake State Board of Elections flier directing Republicans to vote on Nov. 4 and Democrats to vote on Nov. 5 is being circulated in several Hampton Roads localities in Virginia, according to reports.

The flier looks like an official document, featuring the state board logo and the state seal, and is dated Oct. 24. 

It says, “Due to the larger than expected voter turnout in this years (sic) electorial process. (sic) An emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the following emergency regulations to ease the load on local electorial (sic) precincts and ensure a fair electoral process.”

It urges Republican party supporters and independent voters leaning Republican to vote on the correct day, Nov. 4, and Democrats to vote the following day, as “adopted by emergency regulation of the Virginia General Assembly.” 

The author of the flier even apologizes for any inconvenience. 

All of the information in the flier has been deemed false and the state’s Board of Elections has disavowed itself of any connection to the flier, according to reports. 

Election Day is Nov. 4 for all registered voters. That’s ALL registered voters.

The Hampton Roads area is located in southeastern Virginia and includes Norfolk, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News.

American voters are poised to make history one way or another next Tuesday, and election officials around the nation are bracing for what will likely be an unprecedented voter turnout of 130 million. There will seemingly be endless lines, voting machine problems and pitfalls, and tactics deemed as the usual political dirty tricks used to deter or discourage people from exercising their right to vote.

“Voter suppression can be by design or by accident. You may face poll workers who don’t know what they’re doing, give you bad information or won’t help you out. The machines might not be working and the workers aren’t prepared to help the crowds,” says Melanie Campbell, CEO and executive director of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Inc. “But those who are responsible for election administration have to make sure they’ve allocated machines based on projected turnout, and it can’t be projections based on four years ago.”

According to David Bositis, senior research analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, young or African American voters will be the most frequent targets. “When you decide who and how you’re going to challenge people, it’s helpful to have some attribute as a rule of thumb. That’s why race is handy,” Bositis says. “Republicans know that by at least 90 to one in past elections, and maybe even more this time, African Americans are going to vote Democrat. So for every hundred black voters that they can keep from the polls they’ve gained 80 votes.”

Typical voter suppression tactics might include demands for identification, evidence that a person is registered, and charges that he or she isn’t properly registered. Even before they line up to cast their ballots on Election Day, voters may receive recorded telephone calls, known as robocalls, or anonymous mailings giving them false information about when and where to vote or indicating that they cannot vote if they are facing foreclosure.

Do not be fooled, Campbell warns, adding that there are some important steps people should take before Election Day to ensure that they are able to vote and that their votes are counted.

He advises voters to verify their registration and poll location before Election Day. Call the Unity 08 Voter Assistance Hotline at 1-866-MYVOTE1 to ensure you are listed on the voter registration rolls with your local Board of Elections.

Even though you are certain you’ve registered properly and know where to go, polling sites are often changed at the last minute. And, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, states sometimes purge voters from the rolls if election officials cannot match their voter registration against information in other government databases. As a result, between 15% to 30% of all matches fail because of typos or administrative errors such as the discrepancy between a hyphen in someone’s name in one database but not another. Brennancenter.org and Blackcampaign.org can also provide voting information and barriers for each state.

Also, voters should not leave home without identification. To be safe, bring your voter registration card, driver’s license, government-issued photo ID, a paycheck, utility bill, or government document that includes your name and street address, Campbell says.

Some states may have new voting machines or ballot forms with which voters may be unfamiliar. You have a right to request help from poll workers about how to use the machines. Campbell, who cast an early ballot this week in Virginia, says that even she had to ask for assistance at one point, and advises others not hesitate to do so if they have any questions or feel uncertain about the process.

Campbell’s organization and other civil rights and legal groups will have lawyers and poll watchers at sites around the nation. According to the Brennan Center, minority communities and students have historically faced more challenges when voting. Voters who are challenged should seek the organization’s assistance immediately. If they cannot easily identify someone who can help, they should call 866-OUR-VOTE for legal assistance. In the event they are unable to resolve the situation right away, they have a right to cast a provisional ballot if they are certain they are registered, Campbell says.

Bositis believes the greatest number of voter suppression efforts will likely take place in states where the margins between the two presidential candidates are close. But, he adds, if Democrats are in control of a particular state, it will be harder to do. “In Ohio, for example, Democrats basically control the state government now, so they’re not going to acquiesce and let Republicans run roughshod. In fact, they’ve already defended some voting cases in court for this election and won,” Bositis says. “I know there will be some mischief, that’s just how the Republicans are. But I don’t know that it’s going to make any difference. Voting is going to be a pain for some people without question. But is this going to be something where the Republicans are going to be able to snatch victory that they don’t otherwise merit? No.”