If bombings or other attacks like those that occurred this week in Baghdad, Karbala and Mosul take place in one section of the country or another during balloting, the resulting disparities in security might badly reduce turnout in certain areas and render the election unfair, election experts say.
During balloting, poll observers can alert their organizations to problems, which can prompt election officials to respond to complaints and concerns on the spot.
But the other Democratic candidate who held a narrow lead on Election Day, Cecilia F. Tkaczyk of Schenectady County, has been overtaken by the Republican during ballot counting that is not yet complete, leaving the outcome in doubt.
The requirements regarding signature collectors may sound obscure, but questions regarding the residency of petition collectors frequently surface during ballot challenges, said Mr. Berger and Nancy J. Northup, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center, a voting rights group in Manhattan that represented Ms. Lerman.
In addition, concerns have been expressed about the possibility of fraud during the balloting and the vote count.
One of the world's largest international voluntary standards development organisation is to launch an internet-based system designed to initiate, develop and track draft standards and revisions before and during their balloting stage.
An opposition candidate, Almazbek Atambayev, who trailed Mr. Bakiyev with 8percentt and withdrew his candidacy during the balloting, has contested the vote.
On the opening roll-call Mr. Wallace received 429 1/2 ballots and Mr. Truman 319 1/2, with the remainder scattered among fourteen other candidates who had been named in nominating speeches or had been put forward during the balloting.
This election was never going to be easy for the Awami Party, which has already attracted sharp criticism for poor governing skills and corruption while in office — deficiencies that analysts, and some party insiders, say will hurt it during the balloting.
The resulting polarization of Venezuelan society, with the poor overwhelmingly lining up behind Mr. Chavez and the middle class reluctantly supporting Mr. Arias, was once again on display during the balloting on Sunday.
The whisper campaigns, which reach a peak during Oscar balloting, are fueled, the film's supporters say, by the Internet, by a fascination with tabloid-type scandals and by the rise of private Oscar strategists hired by the studios.
