As of 8:00 p.m., Election Protection is receiving breaking news reports of more than 700 voters in Brush Creek Community Center (3801 Cleaver Blvd.) in Kansas City, Missouri that waited more than eight hours to cast their ballots.
According to multiple affidavits signed by witnesses available for comment to media, hundreds of voters were given misinformation and told to return at a time after the polls close.
Election Protection is investigating that after delays of up to eight hours – among the longest in the nation – resulting in hundreds of voters being denied their legal right to cast their ballot.
In addition, Election Protection in investigating several reports that elderly and disabled voters had their registration papers torn up in front of them after voters stated that they could not wait in the prohibitive lines.
Election Protection is closely monitoring voter requests for assistance and reports of problems at the polls through its hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), web site (www.866OurVote.org) and tens of thousands of volunteers across the country. Already hundreds of requests for assistance have been received from Missouri voters, many of which have been concerns over these and other series problems.
Election Protection legal volunteers are working with voters and election officials to resolve these questions quickly to ensure that no eligible voter leaves their polling location without effectively casting a ballot. Some of these incidents have been addressed over the phone, while Election Protection has mobilize on-the-ground field volunteers to resolve more serious concerns.
The majority of problems seen today have been honest mistakes by undertrained pollworkers and overwhelmed election officials, but they nevertheless threaten Missouri voters’ right to fair elections and the integrity of the entire system. The only way to prevent such failures in the future will be to institute comprehensive election reform to improve the registration process, voting systems, and administration and to prevent disenfranchisement of all voters.
Missouri polls close tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. and Election Protection will continue to monitor activity throughout the state and update you with new information about Election Day problems as they arise.
