DAVID SKOLNICK | Politics Will Fla. election pall be cast over Ohio?

If you think the presidential campaign will finally come to an end Nov. 2, you're mistaken.
In 2000, it certainly didn't end Election Day because of numerous recounts, particularly in Florida. It was several weeks later that President Bush was declared the winner of that election over Democrat Al Gore.
Some polls show the 2004 race in Ohio tightening between President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, his Democratic challenger. Bush gained momentum and started pulling ahead of Kerry in Ohio polls after his party's national convention. But some recent polls show a statistical dead-heat in Ohio, which was commonplace before the Republican convention.
Political experts are calling Ohio the Florida of the 2004 presidential election. That means attorneys and advisers for Bush and Kerry will be in the offices of boards of elections in the state's 88 counties, and probably in a number of courtrooms, scrutinizing ballots.
If one of the candidates wins Ohio by at least 3 percent, the state will escape scrutiny.
But a close race in Ohio is expected so the state's county boards of elections probably won't have it as easy as they did four years ago when Bush beat Gore in the state by 3.6 percent.
If it comes to increased scrutiny of Ohio's votes, quite honestly, the state could go through the same embarrassment that Florida experienced in 2000.
Many counties in Ohio, including Columbiana and Trumbull, still use punch cards. That means a return to such terms as dimples and hanging chads, and questions about voter intent that plagued Florida during the last presidential election.
Mahoning is one of a handful of Ohio counties to use electronic voting. Mahoning election officials say the electronic voting machines are more accurate than the paper ballots the county used for nearly two decades.
There have been recounts in Mahoning since the county implemented the electronic voting system two years ago. Final totals have changed on occasion, but those changes came only on paper ballots the county uses for absentee voters.
The recounts of ballots cast on electronic voting machines are done by the machines. There is no other way to do it. Mahoning election officials insist the machines are tamper-proof and the results are 100 percent accurate. But some election and/or computer experts are critical of the machines and say they can be compromised.
Already we're seeing problems statewide with the voting process, even though the election is still a few weeks away.
Some county election boards were fighting it out with J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state, over his decision to not counting provisional ballots cast in incorrect precincts. A federal judge Thursday overturned Blackwell's directive to boards of elections.
Also, many of the boards are simply overwhelmed by the amount of voter registration cards submitted by numerous nonprofit political organizations. The registration deadline was Oct. 4, and most counties are having their employees work overtime to check the legitimacy of the cards.
There have been problems statewide with registration fraud -- about 50 are under investigation in Mahoning County alone -- so election employees must closely examine each card. Monday is the deadline for election boards in Ohio to submit their voter registration numbers to Blackwell's office. It's becoming obvious that some will not meet that deadline.
Problems at county election boards are popping up all over Ohio. We've even had a few in the Valley.
In Columbiana County, it wasn't until Oct. 5 that people could go to the elections board to vote absentee even though the ballots were supposed to be available Sept. 29.
Another local embarrassment occurred this week when it was discovered that the Trumbull County elections board failed to notify its counterpart in Mahoning County that a Trumbull Career and Technical Center tax levy should be on the ballot in two of Mahoning's precincts. The reason given by Trumbull election officials for the oversight? The office is being overworked because of the voter registration issue.
"I hope we can be forgiven," said Norma Williams, Trumbull election board director.
Perhaps they can for this error. But get high-priced attorneys and political consultants involved in the equation with the outcome of the presidential election at stake, and Williams and other election officials in the state won't see much forgiveness.