Election Hotline

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ABC NEWS–Tuesday is Election Day and the stakes could not be higher for a midterm contest: Control of both the House and Senate is up for grabs and could come down to a handful of close elections in a number of key states.

New laws and new voting machines are in place, designed to make the voting process more efficient. But adjusting to so much change in such a competitive political season could also make this one of the most confusing and chaotic Election Days on record.

Liberal interest groups like People for the American Way (PFAW) are worried about problems at the polls that could cause voter disenfranchisement, and other flaws in the voting process. PFAW is spearheading Election Protection 365 and a nationwide hotline for voter-reported problems (1-866-OUR-VOTE).

Republicans, on the other hand, think the risk of confusion may be overstated. They remain focused on getting out the vote and suggest that Democrats and their supporters are simply looking for problems.

Still, most of the problems that will arise — everything from machines that won’t start to power outages — are simply growing pains as America goes through its first election with revised and computerized voting.

Electionline’s Doug Chapin’s advice for voters: Be prepared to be patient.