131 million: voters put the ballot to the test in a record-setting election.

• Author: Intorcio, Tom

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the months leading up to the Nov. 4 election, news stories raised the specter of a "perfect storm" to describe the upcoming meltdown. Pundits predicted the election would put states and local election officials to a "Survivor"-like test as they dealt with record turnout.

Could election officials recruit enough workers? Could voters operate new machines? Would record numbers of early and absentee voters lead to unforeseen problems? Would the entire election come down to one state, as it had in 2000 and 2004? Would the outcome of the election be decided in court?

With the election in the rear view mirror, most observers are astonished by just how smoothly it went.

"There were only minor problems," says Doug Chapin, director of electionline.org, a nonpartisan group that analyzes the elections process as part of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Make Voting Work initiative. "There were no big meltdowns like the ones that people had feared."

President Obama's large margin of victory helped election officials avoid problems that might have cropped up in a tighter race. Election experts, however, say there were some problems with the 2008 vote and plenty of work is needed to avoid wide-ranging problems in the next national election. Key issues include voter registration, access to early voting locations in some states, post-election audits, and military/overseas voting.

"We did quite well with few complaints, though our turnout did not increase to double-digit levels as in some other states. A close presidential election would have triggered a number of federal lawsuits and recounts," Texas Senator Jeff Wentworth says. "I'm grateful for the nation that it was a decisive victory and we didn't have to go through that again. At the same time, there are aspects that need reform."

A post-election survey sponsored by the Make Voting Work project and AARP confirmed what most political observers thought: The election ran better than expected, though not without trouble spots. The survey of 10,000 Americans conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology just after the election found 75 percent of respondents very confident that their vote was counted as cast.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The survey, however, did raise some concerns. Only 61 percent of absentee voters said they were confident their vote was counted as cast. In both early voting and on Election Day, African-American voters waited longer than any other group. Among those who did not vote, 8 percent said they had requested an absentee ballot but it never arrived, and 16 percent had registration problems.

"Overall, voters give the election system...