Just before midnight Sunday, East Lansing City Clerk Sharon Reid was still in her office working out the city's Election Day kinks.

For two weeks, Reid has labored deep into the night to better prepare East Lansing for this year's election. She hopes her efforts will prevent the number of complications that occurred in the city during the 2000 race.

Although she wasn't part of East Lansing's election crew in 2000, Reid said the city's limited number of phone lines, a shortage of staff members and new voter registration rules caused many voters to be misinformed.

"Some of these students are really excited - it's their first time voting," she said. "I just don't want people to be disappointed."

Reid requested extra staff for poll sites and organized 10 additional phone lines to provide assistance to voters with last-minute questions.

Mark Grebner, chairman of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, said he observed the polls and the pitfalls of Election Day in East Lansing as an election official in 2000.

"It was the biggest breakdown of the election system that I've ever seen," said Grebner, who is also an East Lansing political consultant.

"Over 2,000 calls (to City Hall) were not answered," he said. "And that is in a city which might have had 18,000 people try to vote."

Problems arose with about 500 residents, but 400 of them eventually ended up voting, Grebner said.

"In the meantime, it looked like the end of the world," he said.

Grebner said in addition to having inadequate numbers of staff, the city provided too little training beforehand and inaccurate voter lists.

"Each of these things made the others worse," he said.

After the election, Grebner said he sat on a task force trying to improve the election process, but little progress was made.

"The problem really with elections is we only hold them once in a while," he said. "Nobody gets really good at this. It's a one-time thing."

But Grebner said this year he is encouraged by the efforts that Reid has made to improve the process. He pointed to careful checking of the voter list, extra staff hired on as back-up and a call-forwarding system so confused voters can get help.

East Lansing Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said the city spent thousands of dollars for mailings and extra staff to operate phones and inspect precincts.

"We've since found out that was a problem all over the country," Golden said. "It's likely to be a problem for some people again.

"We just hope we can minimize that as much as possible."

There also will be information tables at each site to direct voters to the right sites, she said.

However, city officials are urging voters to check where and if they are registered before going to the polls.

"There is some nervousness on the part of both sides that it was so close last time," Reid said. "We don't know what the challenges might be."

Reid said the high volume of registrations this year could create additional hang-ups. East Lansing received nearly 6,000 registrations between August and the deadline on Oct. 4.

Ken Silfven, spokesman for Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, said the state also registered a record 7.1 million voters to its rolls this year, up from 6.8 million in the 2000 election.

"It will be a long day and a busy one, but these folks are no stranger to that," he said.

The Secretary of State's office has also been exerting extra effort to make the process move smoothly, said Land's spokeswoman Kelly Chesney. She said Land has met with all 83 county election clerks in the state to give advice.

Additionally, the traveling Secretary of State office has gone to college campuses to inform young voters, Chesney said, adding that on Election Day, state officials will be touring polling locations.

"We're committed to a smoothly run election where every vote is counted," Chesney said, adding that the clerks will have to deal with large numbers of newly registered voters and new federal election law changes.

But Chesney said she isn't worried.

"We have a history of well-run elections in Michigan," she said.

East Lansing police Sgt. Scott Wriggelsworth said the department is also preparing for conflicts in light of the polarized atmosphere surrounding the election.

Wriggelsworth said officers will make their presence known at the polls.

"We don't expect to have any problems, but if any arise, we will certainly have the people on duty to handle it," he said.

The election won't be without some glitches, Grebner said.

"The biggest problem, there are certain people who will be required to bring ID to the polls," he said. "Some of those people won't have them."

Additionally, there might be problems with out-of-town voters still registered in East Lansing or minor mistakes at polling locations, Grebner said.

"I'm sure that things will be bumpy but they won't become catastrophic," he said.