ELECTION 2004

• WCPO video of Bush visit • Photos from Monday's rally • Bush derides Kerry, and crowd loves it • Transcript of President Bush's remarks • Bronson: 50,000 Elvis (Bush) fans can't be wrong • Spectators pleased with Bush appearance • By the way, elect my friend, Deters • All except traffic smooth for rally • Poll workers in short supply • Ballot access goes to court • Byrd urges vote for Kerry • Kerry taunts opponent in Wisconsin • Election 2004 page Got a debate question for either of the candidates? We'd like to hear it. • What would you ask?

With just five weeks left before Americans elect a president, a federal panel is scrambling to ensure that state and county officials understand what's required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

DeForest Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission created under the reform law to help states address the new rules, said Monday that problems at voting sites are likely unless more poll workers are found.

"Without increased capacity, you have potential for bottlenecks," Soaries said. "Lines are longer. People work harder. There's just a shortage, and the shortage is growing."

Soaries said experts have estimated that 2 million workers are needed to cover the nation's nearly 200,000 polling places. He said only 1.4 million workers were on hand in 2000.

"It's a huge issue," Soaries said. "It's something that will engage us for years. Many advocacy groups are motivating people to register to vote, but we need more people to work at the polls."

The reforms were passed in response to a 2000 election marred by allegations of voting irregularities in Florida. President Bush won over former Vice President Al Gore after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a controversial recount.

Among the changes passed in 2002:

• Voting systems must comply with federal regulations.

• Signs advising voters of their rights must be posted at polling places.

• Voters whose eligibility is in question must be handed provisional ballots that allow them to vote while their eligibility is being determined.

Soaries said confusion over provisional ballots still exists in some states. But even where officials understand the rules, a shortage of poll workers could complicate the process on Election Day.

"It speaks to the challenges we face between now and Nov. 2," he said.

The commission has turned to colleges to help recruit poll workers and expects to announce $750,000 in grants soon for the effort, said Ray Martinez III, a Texas lawyer and one of the panel's four commissioners.

In Indiana, officials are trying to draft 16- and 17-year-olds to work the polls even though they are ineligible to vote, said Secretary of State Todd Rokita. Legal voting age is 18.

"What a civics lesson," Rokita said. "Imagine - before you can even vote at age of 18 - to come in and work the polls for a day."

In 2000, more than half of Indiana's counties used punch-card voting machines, the type of system that produced the infamous hanging and dimpled chads at the center of the Florida dispute, Rokita said. This year, he noted that fewer than 14 percent of the counties will be using those machines.

"So what you see is an incredible amount of movement," Rokita said. "And with that, there are going to be some growing pains."

In Nevada, where a new electronic voting system has been installed, officials are focusing on making sure the state's pool of poll workers, mostly senior citizens, can cope with changes in the system and the law, Secretary of State Dean Heller said.

"The key obviously is training from here on out between now and the general election," he said. "We're now testing poll workers just to make sure they can handle the stress of Election Day and the people that come in."