RICHMOND

"We've taken unprecedented measures this year," said Secretary of Elections Nancy Rodrigues yesterday.

The NAACP suit claims that there are not enough voting machines for voters, and wants election officials to reallocate voting machines to precincts that are most likely to be busy and have long lines. The suit also asks for polls to be kept open an additional two hours, and for the federal government to take charge of the state's election process.

But Jean Cunningham, the Board of Elections chairwoman, said the NAACP is using outdated numbers regarding how many voting machines are available in some precincts.

"There are far more machines in preparation for this particular election," Cunningham said.

According to the board, the number of voting machines in Virginia has been bumped up 77 percent since the 2004 presidential election--from 5,989 machines in 2004 to 10,600 for this year's election.

There are also more polling places and election workers.

Cunningham said she was surprised at the NAACP's suit "based on what we've been doing."

She also said local registrars, not the state board, determine allocation of voting machines between precincts.

"We are hopeful that where they know they'll have large numbers, they're prepared," she said.

Cunningham did warn voters that there may be lines at polling places on Tuesday, and they should be prepared for that. But, she said, their vote will count.

"We have gone the last mile," Cunningham said. "We have done a yeoman's job in terms of trying to prepare ourselves."

Gov. Tim Kaine also said Virginia is ready for the election.

Speaking on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP yesterday, Kaine said Virginia has a good history of fair elections and that the election staff is very well-prepared for a large turnout.

Also yesterday, the board voted to count all absentee ballots from overseas Virginians.

A controversy had surfaced last week over a state law that requires some absentee ballots to include a witness's address

About 130 ballots in Fairfax and a few other localities had been rejected because they didn't have such an address.

But Attorney General Bob McDonnell on Monday issued an opinion that federal law supercedes state law and that all those ballots should count. The Board of Elections voted to adopt that opinion as policy.

Rodrigues said while the issue has generated a lot of interest, the registrars who rejected some ballots were simply following state law.

"A couple of registrars have been vilified because of their commitment to their oath to uphold the law in Virginia," Rodrigues said.

Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com