Nasty Voting Surprise in Essex County, NJ.. If you have not voted

[KeepItReal]

2. Yeah but *when* are they counted (if they are counted at all)?

Plus each state has different rules on when and if they are even counted, since they all have to be verified.

Presidential election seen spurring new wave of lawsuits

"The biggest battles, however, may come after Election Day, and could lead to a replay of 2000 where courts determine the next U.S. president. Disputes over the counting of such provisional ballots in swing states including Virginia, Ohio and Florida would dominate such a scenario, said Jocelyn Benson, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and director of the Michigan Center for Law and Administration.

“Provisional ballots could very likely be the hanging chads of 2012,” Benson said. “The battle over provisional ballots will take center stage where any election is close and a significant number of such ballots have been cast.”

Litigation over such ballots, usually cast when a voter’s credentials are challenged or inadequate, and counted after the polls close, may at the very least push resolution of the race between President Barack Obama and ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney past Nov. 6. Challenges have already begun, with voter advocates in Ohio Nov. 2 suing over what they said is an attempt by Republican officials there to undermine court rulings on provisional ballots."

Ohio's complicated process for counting provisional ballots could decide the presidency

"More than 200,000 were cast in Ohio in the 2008 presidential election. About 40,000 were rejected and not counted."