But when those voters showed up at a precinct to check on their vote, some were told they had actually requested an absentee ballot and could not vote.

In two cases, Sarasota election workers caught the miscue and voters were allowed to cast ballots today.

Priscilla Smith says she and her husband were approached two weeks ago by people at their Sarasota County home. The people said they were from the Republican Party and asked the Smiths to sign the paperwork so they could turn in her ballot for her.

The Smiths signed. Then they got suspicious.

The couple went to their precinct this morning and were told by poll workers that they could not vote because they requested an absentee ballot. Priscilla Smith got hot. “I wasn’t leaving until they got to the bottom of it,” she said.

Eventually, the elections office determined that Smith had not turned in the absentee ballot, and she was allowed to vote. It is not clear who showed up at her door two weeks ago or what happened to the ballot she mistakenly requested.

Others have called the Herald-Tribune and the Sarasota elections office this morning with similar stories.

“It’s frightening,” Smith said.

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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081104/BLOG05/811040263/2055