The presidential candidates are within spitting distance of each other in the tracking polls. In six weeks, voters will deliver their judgment.

But after the 2000 election debacle and irregularities at the polls in 2006, there is a fear that swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio are unprepared for a large voter turnout.

The public interest group Common Cause issued a report detailing the problems that could hamper access to the polls in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Virginia, Georgia and Colorado -- all crucial to determining the next president.

Common Cause warns that long lines, poor poll-worker training, circulation of fliers meant to confuse voters, the handling of provisional ballots and unfair allocation of voter machines remain big challenges in most of these states. The group said Pennsylvania has improved its procedures when it comes to student voting rights and non-English language voting material, but state law isn't where it needs to be on handling deceptive fliers and challenging votes at the polls.

Separately, VoteAllegheny, a non-partisan election integrity group, has asked Allegheny County to test a random sample of touch-screen voting machines to verify that the software is the same the state earlier certified for paperless voting. Even County Council has called on the board of elections to verify the software, but the board has not scheduled a software audit even though problems have arisen with touch-screen machines in other states.

Given the fact that faulty machines and software have been a factor in other close elections, it's cavalier to assume that just because there was no evidence of malfunction in the past, the software is adequate to the task.

Checking the software now would instill confidence in voters who will turn out in unprecedented numbers on Nov. 4. The stakes are high enough without the pressure of wondering whether everyone's vote will count.