It’s hard to believe, but Election Day is finally here.After the 2000 election debacle, Ed Board is on pins and needlesover what could happen this time around. All the signs indicatethat this election could make the 2000 election look like acakewalk. Prepare for things to get crazy.

Omen No. 1: The electronic voting machines that willcollect about 29 percent of the vote have been widely criticized asvulnerable, faulty pieces of machinery. A few months ago, news cameout that some voting machines were protected only by a two-digitpassword that led into a barely protected Microsoft Accessdatabase, where the votes were stored.

According to Diebold, the company that manufactures the machinesin question, the problem has been fixed, but the total lack oftransparency in which Diebold operates has led many to believe thatany number of flaws could still exist within the system. In fact,no e-voting system currently in use has managed to pass independenttesting.

More disturbingly, some Yale students recently discovered thatchanging only one vote per voting machine would have changed theoutcome of the 2000 election; changing two votes would have changedthe results from four entire states. Expect to see a great deal offuss raised over these machines when the results begin to comein.

Omen No. 2: Florida. Not only is Florida using theaforementioned voting machines, but reports have been coming in ofall manners of crazy goings-on. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, ofabsentee ballots went missing in the mail, never reaching thevoters who requested them.

According to recent reports, thousands of voters in Florida areregistered to vote in more than one state: 27,000 registered inboth Florida and Ohio and 46,000 registered to vote in both Floridaand New York. Maybe we’re only noticing these things becauseit’s coming from the vortex of last election’smaelstrom of doom. But it’s pretty much assured that Floridais gonna take a lot of heat this time around.

Omen No. 3: It’s going to be a close call, again.All the reports indicate that this election is going to be won bythe barest of margins. This naturally means that every flaw, everymissing vote will be called into question and even though Kerry hassaid he will not demand a recount, you shouldn’t put too muchfaith in that. This is gonna drag on and on and on. Ed Board iswilling to bet on it.