At 6:30 Tuesday morning, poll workers at Boulevard Elementary in Shaker Heights were struggling to turn their voting machines on while voters lined up. Presiding Judge Patricia Solomon.
Patricia Solomon: We had one machine working and the line was so long we had to go to provisional ballots.
How many polling sites had problems depends on who you ask. In a lawsuit filed late yesterday afternoon, the Ohio Democratic Party said 43 places had voting problems. The county Board of Elections said there were only four. The court ordered 16 sites to stay open 90 minutes beyond the 7:30 closing time for voters who might not have been able to cast their ballot earlier. That, in turn, held up the release of results across the state. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Board President Bob Bennett says all in all, things went relatively smoothly.
Bob Bennett: We had a good election marred only by some special interests' efforts, and what I consider a very poor court ruling.
The Board of Elections and its chief, Michael Vu, have been under close scrutiny since the county's first experience with electronic voting machines last May. That's when machine problems delayed results for six days. Vu said there's been improvement.
Michael Vu: We knew we weren't going to have a perfect day, but we've had an effective day in respect to individuals being able to cast their ballot.
But observers at some polling sites weren't so sure. The 16 sites were all on Cleveland's east side. Joyce Goldstein supervised Democratic party observers in Cleveland Heights where five sites stayed open late.
Joyce Goldstein: I don't know if its, you know, 'if a tree falls...' or if there's actually something different going on here. I can only tell you what I've observed and that is we've really had quite a lot of problems.
The Board of Elections' chief Michael Vu says they will continue to review reports of trouble at various polling sites in coming weeks. I'm Mhari Saito, 90.3.