To the Point

Voter Turnout and Mobilization

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent this year to register millions of new voters. In Iowa, for example, the Secretary of State says that 95% of those who are eligible have been signed up. Now, with five days to go in a race that remains too close to call, it's up to the Bush and Kerry campaigns to find their potential voters and get them out to the polls. We hear from reporters, historians, civil rights advocates, and Republican and Democratic strategists about how the campaigns target individual voters, find out what registered voters are in for between now and election day, and discover what age, ethnicity and religion have to do with it. Making News: Arafat's Health Worsens Israel has agreed to let Yasser Arafat leave his Ramallah headquarters for a hospital in Jordan. The 75-year-old Palestinian leader collapsed yesterday, but doctors have not said what's wrong. The Palestinian Authority has released a photo of a smiling Arafat in a wheelchair, wearing pajamas and a cap, instead of his traditional headdress. Dennis Ross, longtime special envoy to the Middle East for President Clinton, explores today's events from several perspectives. Reporter's Notebook: Update on Florida Election Preparations Kerry partisans had been harassing Bush supporters waiting in line for early voting, and in Broward County, 60,000 absentee ballots have disappeared. Yet, Florida election officials are determined not to have a repeat of what happened four years ago. Ion Sancho, who the Florida Supreme Court appointed as a technical advisor in the counting of Dade County's contested ballots in 2000, is confident it's not a losing battle.