Today, FairVote released its third in a series of reports highlighting potential problems in swing states on Election Day. The newest report focuses on Colorado, a state that has been safely "red" in recent years and has only gone Democratic once since 1964 (Clinton won in 1992). Western states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada have taken on an increased significance, as the presidential campaigns have visited and poured in unprecedented resources into them this year.

The report, Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks -- Colorado Edition is a compilation of interviews and surveys with county election officials in 44 Colorado counties. It covers an array of topics, including machine and poll booth allocation plans, types of machines used and accessibility to the polls for students.

In short, we found that many counties were not adequately preparing for Election Day. Most counties won't be publishing a written plan and voters have no way of seeing the ballot before they actually vote. However, since Colorado has early voting, some of these problems may be averted. The more people that vote before November 4, the less problems there will be at the polls.

You can read the full report, along with the other reports in the series here.