FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Fraud File: The 'New Florida'?

Fraud File: The 'New Florida'?
Wednesday, October 27, 2004

STORIESBACKGROUND

WASHINGTON - Could Ohio become this election's Florida?

Analysts brood that the state, a crucial part of President Bush�s and John Kerry's election strategy, may see its election system break down under the weight of hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters and a raft of legal challenges.

Kerry's victory strategy depends on Ohio (search). Bush knows no Republican has won re-election without the state.

Kerry and Bush are locked in a dead heat. Both campaigns will have lawyers throughout Ohio looking for any sign of trouble.

This year, 8 million Ohioans are registered to vote - that's up 800,000 from 2000. Seventy percent of the state still uses punch card ballots - which even Florida's gotten rid of after the hanging chads of the 2000 election.

"We have statewide standards for determining what constitutes a ballot vote on a punch card ballot. They didn't have that in Florida in 2000," said Ken Blackwell (search), Ohio's secretary of state. So far in Ohio, five lawsuits challenging the state�s policies on provisional ballots and voter registration have already been filed and settled.

Each Florida county had its own standard for counting a punch card vote. Ohio doesn't count dimpled chads or ballots with only one chad perforated.

The emphasis now is on turning out the vote and Kerry's campaign is out in force — 100 paid staff, 57 offices, 24,000 Election Day volunteers. And pro-Democratic groups like America Coming Together will have thousands more on the ground, many equipped with disposable cameras and video cameras to report any signs of voting trouble.

Bush’s campaign has more than 100 paid staff and more than 79,000 volunteers in Ohio. The campaign reports that it has made more than 2 million calls and knocked on nearly 350,000 doors. Starting Saturday, it intends to knock on 400,000 doors and place 800,000 phone calls to Ohioans.

— FOX News' Major Garrett contributed to this report.