Intellectual Property Law

Barack Obama's campaign is trying to clear up voters' confusion over this year's voting procedures with a new web page aimed at dispelling some of the rumors that have been flying around supporter e-mail lists.

The campaign's "Voter Protection Rumor Control" page was launched after several Obama supporters started e-mailing each other voting procedure information that was sometimes wrong. Though Obama's page is aimed at voters in Florida, such e-mail traffic has been seen on other regional group supporter lists, notably in Texas.

One subject of particular confusion is the option of being able to engage in straight party voting in several states, where a voting machine picks all the candidates by party for the voter.

Obama's page debunks the rumor that "after you vote for Obama, you need to vote a 'straight Democratic ticket' or your vote for president won?t count."

There is no straight party ticket voting option in Florida. But some states do offer that option, and that can lead to people inadvertently screwing up their choices.

"What most people don't realize is, is that when they go through the ballot, they can de-select certain things if they press the candidate's name twice," says Pamela Smith, president of the election integrity group Verified Voting. "The best choice for people is to skip the straight party option and go directly to their candidate and mark for their candidate."

The group plans on providing voters with more information about their voting systems sometime within the next week or so through the group's Verifier map, Smith says.

Voters can currently look up the kind of voting system their county uses, but the group will enhance it with pictures of the machines and their interfaces so that voters can familiarize themselves with the process.  Instructions on how to use the machines will also be available.