And here's the details...the move is allowed under state law. Once example was someone who tried to vote at starting at 10AM but couldn't. http://www.foxnews.com/election_night/states/mo/hours.sml # # Judge Extends St. Louis Polling Hours Tuesday, November 7, 2000 # # ST. LOUIS - A circuit court judge ordered Tuesday evening that # polls in St. Louis be kept open until 10 p.m. Central time, three # extra hours, due to long lines, a shortage of judges and a lack # of booths, ballots and other equipment. # # The judge ruled on a petition filed by Democratic Congressional # candidate William Lacy Clay, who cited that voters have not been # able to get in to the polls, and have frequently been finding # they are not on the voting lists. # # Joining in filing the petition were the Missouri Democratic # Committee and the Gore-Lieberman campaign. # # Judge Evelyn M. Baker ruled in favor of the petitioners because # of an especially heavy turnout. The Board of Election # Commissioners "failed to live up to its duty to the voters of # the city," Baker said. # # Under the emergency order issued less than an hour before the # polls were to have closed, the election board was to be kept # open until 11:59 p.m. # # Lawyers for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush # were unsuccessful in having the case heard in federal court. # Moments after Baker's ruling, a U.S. District Judge declined # to hear the case, saying it was a state issue. # # The Board of Election Commissioners planned to file an immediate # appeal. # # Jim Grebing, a spokesman for Secretary of State Bekki Cook, said # the office had learned of the judge's order through the news # media. # # But Grebing said that the move is allowed under Missouri election # law. # # "We were surprised, we didn't know anything about it," Grebing # said. "But they didn't have to go through us, and we weren't # consulted about it." # # The petition charged that numerous city voters were unable to # vote. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said irregularities at the polls, # including the inability of judges to verify voter registration, # set numerous voters on a path taking several hours to confirm. # # Voters whose registration was not on record at their polling # places had to travel to the board's downtown office where several # hundred people waited up to three hours to confirm their # registration. # # Mahina Nightsage, 41, said she attempted to vote at 10 a.m. but # was told by an election judge that she was not registered for # that polling place. Nightsage said she arrived at the board's # downtown office by 12:30 and by 3:15 p.m. had not yet been able # to vote. # # "That is too much of a burden for anyone to exercise their # constitutional right to vote," Nightsage said. # # Nightsage said she spoke to many other frustrated voters at the # board's office, some of whom left without voting. # # The petitioners presented several affidavits from voters with # similar stories. # # An attorney for the Bush-Cheney campaign asked that the suit # be removed to federal court because federal offices were at stake. # # Kevin Coan, the Republican director of elections for the board, # said election procedures were no different from any other. Coan # said he knew of no one whose right to vote had been denied. # # Coan said much of the confusion may have rested with people who # did not register in time to vote, yet showed up expecting to # be able to cast a ballot. # # "I doubt they have any idea what the election laws of this state # are," Coan said. TimMay was entirely silent on why he objects to this time extension.