The Christian Science Monitor today has a good overview article on provisional ballots, titled "Behind the looming ballot clash." A quote:
At the center of the controversy is part of the law mandating that states permit voters to cast provisional ballots if their eligibility is challenged by election officials. A provisional ballot will be counted as valid if an investigation reveals the voter is qualified.Equally valuable is a collection put together by Findlaw of election lawsuits, with sections on "Ballot Issues Arising in Battleground States," "Electronic Voting Machine Controversies," etc., with links to the orders and opinions. Posted by Marcia Oddi at October 27, 2004 01:45 PMAn estimated 1.5 million to 3 million would-be voters were turned away from the polls in similar challenges during the 2000 election. Congress created provisional voting as a mechanism to capture those lost votes.
But definitions in the federal law are vague, and voter eligibility ultimately turns on an interpretation of state law that may differ from judge to judge. Analysts say that is a recipe for bare-knuckled legal tactics that could swing the election one way or the other in a close race.
"The whole idea of provisional ballots is one that is going to potentially cause protracted litigation after the election," says Nathaniel Persily, an election-law expert at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia. He estimates up to 1 million provisional ballots will be cast.