As Americans go to vote today, Democrats and Republicans have sent out teams of lawyers across the nation to watch for voter fraud, intimidation and other illegal tactics that could mean the difference in some of the closest races.

Already, Democrats were crying foul Monday about a pamphlet distributed in Baltimore’s largely black precincts warning voters to pay their unpaid traffic tickets, overdue rent “and most important any warrants” before going to the polls. The pamphlet, which was distributed anonymously, also gave the wrong date for Election Day.

To watch for such problems, the Democratic National Committee, for example, has trained and deployed 10,000 lawyers, paralegals and poll watchers in some of the tightest contests, including Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas and Florida.

They also have set up a toll-free number (866) VOTE-411 monitored by teams of lawyers to allow voters anywhere in the country to report problems at polling places.

A spokesman for the Republican National Committee insisted the party has no comparable operation.

“What we’re really focused on is getting people out to vote,” said spokesman Jim Dyke. “We have not seen (Election Day) as an opportunity to file 10,000 lawsuits.”

Nevertheless, a group called the Republican National Lawyers Assn. has launched a “ballot integrity program,” similarly dispatching attorneys to select locations around the country to watch for vote fraud.

Federal oversight

The Justice Department has sent out more than 400 lawyers to monitor polling places in 14 states, the federal government’s largest oversight effort since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.

On the eve of Election Day, criminal lawyers at the Justice Department were investigating 16 alleged cases of voting fraud and voter intimidation. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft pledged Monday that the department would work to guarantee every citizen the right to vote and the right to have the vote counted.

With the campaigning and the commercials drawing to a close, the parties’ new focus on lawyers at the polling places is a direct outgrowth of the 2000 election debacle in Florida, which took more than a month to sort out as armies of lawyers battled all the way to the Supreme Court.

And with up to 10 Senate races too close to call, according to opinion polls, each party is more concerned than ever with making sure every one of their voters’ ballots is cast and counted. Nationally, voter turnout is expected to be low, putting a premium on get-out-the-vote operations.

Outcomes up in the air

In addition, several potential glitches ranging from quirky state laws to the possibility of slow recounts could keep final control of the Senate in doubt.

In Minnesota, for example, confusion and frustration abound over absentee ballots cast for Sen. Paul Wellstone before his death. A court recently ruled that voters must request new absentee ballots rather than ordering election offices to automatically send them out. Democrats also were concerned about whether the ballots could be mailed out, returned and counted in time for the election.

The Senate race in Louisiana may remain undecided for a month if Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, fails to win 50 percent of the vote today. Landrieu is expected to get more votes than the other challengers on the ballot, but if she does not get more than 50 percent, she will face a Dec. 7 runoff election against the candidate who finishes second.

A lame duck session of Congress also could be left up in the air, dependent upon the outcome of the Missouri Senate race, as well as the appointment Monday of a temporary senator from Minnesota, Independent Dean Barkley.

In Missouri, where problems at polling places have been a staple of the last three elections, the winner is expected to be automatically sworn in and sent to Washington since this is a special election with the winner serving out the term voters gave the late Mel Carnahan in 2000.

With Monday’s announcement of Barkley’s appointment, the Senate has 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two Independents. Jim Jeffords, the Vermont Independent, routinely votes with the Democrats. Barkley has said he does not know which party he would side with. If Missouri Republican Jim Talent defeats Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan, that could hand control of the Senate to the Republicans, if only until January.

One day before Election Day, 10 Senate races remained too close to call. Strategists said contests in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota and Texas could go either way.