[Cafferty:] Forget about voter turn out. In a close race, the big factor could be voter error. Remember the butterfly ballot in Florida four years ago? Kay Maxwell is the executive director of the League of Women Voters. She's a woman dedicated to helping voters avoid confusion and cast their votes correctly. Ms. Maxwell joins us to give us an update on the curveballs that voters might expect when they go to the polls next Tuesday. Ms. Maxwell, welcome to the program.
[Kay Maxwell, League Of Women Voters:] Thank you very much.
[Cafferty:] No, I got one thing to ask you before we get into this thing about next Tuesday. What is it we have to do to get the League of Women Voters to take over the presidential debates because since you guys got out of the picture, they're awful. They're the worse thing. They're not watchable any more. They were good when you guys ran them and they're terrible now. What do we have to do to get you back in charge of this?
[Maxwell:] We'll talk about that after this election. Thank you very much.
[Cafferty:] Well, it is true and I mean every word of it. Now, what should people be worried about? Why should people be worried about going to the polls? This is America. We've been running this thing for 200 some odd years. All of a sudden, we got lawyers on every street corner, all these warnings. Be careful of this. Be sure you don't do that. I mean what's this thing coming to?
[Maxwell:] Well, first of all, I don't think people should be worried. I think they need to get out to the polls and have a little bit of information so that when they get there, they're going to have a good experience. And I think, we think the potential greatest issue for a lot of people especially because we have such tremendous increase in voter registration this year, is that when people get to the polls that they find there is some problem with their registration, they're not on the registration list. It is critical that they know that they're entitled to cast a provisional ballot and that's the first time that's been true across the country. So that's the first thing that people need to know.
[Serwer:] Kay, let me ask you a question. There are dozens and dozens well, that may be a little strong. But there are dozens of different types of voting mechanisms: Ballots, chads, online voting, butterfly ballots, would you support a one national unified methodology at of voting?
[Maxwell:] No, I don't think we're ready to go that far yet. I think we first have to wait and see how the help America vote act is implemented and how it works. We're really in the early stages of that. We haven't even gotten to the point where state wide voter registration lists are required. That doesn't happen until 2006, so I think there are some things in place. We need to see how they work, analyze them and see what else may need to be done, but I wouldn't rush to judgment at this point.
[Romans:] Can you give us some practical advice if we're headed to the polls about what we should do when we go and what areas of the country might have the trickiest kind of voting situation?
[Maxwell:] Well, obviously those states that everyone expects to be close are those that everyone is going to be watching closely and that's where these provisional ballots come in again because if you have a lot of people showing up who do have registration problems, there are going to be a lot of provisional ballots that will have to be cast and then of course, those are paper ballots and those will be counted after the election and in some states, they only have two days to count those ballots. In some states they have as much as two weeks. So the issues of how they're counted, whether or not there are statewide standards across a given state, those are the kinds of issues that I think are going to be critical and will potentially be litigated after the election.
[Cafferty:] Swell. So we can look forward that. I don't mean to single out Florida but let's single out Florida, because Florida was the seat of the biggest part of this national nightmare four years ago and now we understand that potentially they still have bad dreams lurking around the corners down there for this election. What is it about Florida that seems to be problematic?
[Maxwell:] Well, I think that's perhaps a little unfair, because I certainly heard election officials in a number of states say that in 2000 they might have had exactly the same kinds of problems that Florida did. They didn't. They were lucky. Everyone has worked hard I think to try and at least reduce the possibility of different kinds of issues and problems, but they are bound to occur. Human beings operate the system. Human beings are there on Election Day. Hopefully we're going to have enough poll workers in all of the polling stations. That's a concern. We want those people to be well trained. So lots of elements go into making for a good Election Day. But this year you also have early voting in Florida which is something different, something they didn't have four years ago.
[Serwer:] Kay, let me ask you kind of a funny question. That is, what is the League of Women Voters? Is it a nonprofit organization? Can I join? Is there a men's auxiliary?
[Maxwell:] It's not even a men's auxiliary. You can join the real thing.
[Serwer:] I can?
[Maxwell:] Yes you can. In 1974 we decided we saw the light and decided to admit men to membership. It is a nonpartisan organization that focuses on civic engagement, civic participation. We want to see everyone in this country, not only voting, but engaged in their communities and in their states and in their country. So we want to see informed and active participation of citizens. That's the main reason that we exist. And of course at election time, we're focused on providing nonpartisan information because we never support a party or a candidate.
[Romans:] You know Kay, what I'm a little worried about is all this talk about problems, potential problems with the election. I'm worried that some people are going to be daunted, disenfranchised voters, senior citizens who are worried about getting there and not knowing what to do. You point out that 70 percent of the people who voted in 2000 are going to see the same kinds of machines. When you get to the polling place, what do you need to do to make sure that your vote's going to count?
[Maxwell:] Well, a couple of things. First of all, before you go, be certain that you're going to the right precinct polling place, because in some states, if you're in the wrong place and you need a provisional ballot, you won't be given one or you will be given one but it won't count. So that's the first piece of information and if you're unclear, you can go to a Web site, my polling place.com, put in your address and it will tell you where your polling place is and it will also tell you what kind of machine you're going to use and will explain how that machine functions. But if you get to the polls and you still have some questions, look for instructions on the wall. If you've got a question, ask the poll workers because you, the voter, are the important person that day and you are entitled to get answers to your question. Don't be intimidated. Stay calm. Bring a book so that if you have to wait, you'll be able to do that. I think we're excited to see such a tremendous increase in registration. I think this demonstrates people have not been turned off and I think we're in fact hoping that we're going to see a turnaround in our 40-year decline in voter participation this year.
[Serwer:] All right, Kay Maxwell, some very useful and relevant information. She's the executive director of League of Women Voters. I may sign up Kay, if that's OK.
[Maxwell:] You may indeed. Thank you.
[Serwer:] Coming up after the break, dream big or dream on. We'll tell you how Dreamworks performed in its debut for investors this week and later on, the great career move nobody wants to make. Find out why some celebrities wouldn't be where they are if they hadn't been fired long ago. Plus, watching Wall Street to predict what will happen on Pennsylvania avenue. We'll see if the stock market can forecast the next president.