Believe it or not, we're less than 24 hours away from finding out who the next administration will be.  Finally.

While the campaigns are busy getting their last arguments in, on the ground, we're preparing for an anticipated record turnout.  Record turnout sounds like a good thing for democracy, but it could come with record problems.

Justice Brandeis said that sunshine is the best disinfectant.  Now, you can shine your rays on the voting process, highlighting any issues you encounter at the polls: Allison Fine and Nancy Scola have developed TwitterVoteReport, a site that collects "tweets" from Twitter users with news from their polling places. 

So, bring your phone or mobile device with you to the polls tomorrow.

If you currently use Twitter, send a message after you vote that begins with #votereport (this is critically important for ensuring that your message gets to the right place). Then write some or all of the following:

• #[zip code] to indicate where you're voting; ex., "#12345"
• #machine for machine problems; ex., "#machine broken, using prov. ballot"
• #reg for registration troubles; ex., "#reg I wasn't on the rolls"
• #wait:minutes for long lines; ex., "#wait:120 and I'm coming back later"
• #good or #bad to give a quick sense of your overall experience
• #EP+your state if you have a serious problem and need help from the Election Protection coalition; ex., "#EPOH"

If you don't use Twitter, but want to, go to www.twitter.com, sign up, then follow the directions above. If you want to participate by cell phone but don't want to use Twitter, you can:

• Send a text message to 66937 that begins with "#votereport"
• Key in a report by calling (567) 258-VOTE/8683
• Download and use the iPhone app (coming soon)

Polling problems have always plagued elections, but now we can do something about it.  Know your rights and tell your story.