A civil-rights organization said yesterday that some Virginians may lose the opportunity to vote on Nov. 4 because the state is ill-prepared for the heavy turnout that is expected.

Judith Browne-Dianis, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Advancement Project, which studied six Virginia localities, including Richmond, said the state has too few voting machines to serve the expected voters, particularly in minority precincts.

She said the state should consider lengthening voting hours beyond the current 13 and moving voting machines into precincts where a heavy turnout is expected. The state also should make paper ballots available to speed up the process, she said.

She also said the state has too few people to work at the precincts on Election Day.

Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said the board "reviews and welcomes any concerns."

"We believe we are living up to our statutory responsibility," she added. "Since November of last year, localities have been through three statewide elections and are constantly reviewing their equipment needs. Localities are keenly aware of the high level of interest in this election and are preparing the best they can with the resources available."

The Elections Board has recruited 10,000 volunteers to man the polls. State law requires that no more than 5,000 registered voters can vote in any one precinct.

About 4.8 million people are registered.

If everyone showed up and took five minutes to vote, there would be such long lines and waits they would get discouraged and leave, Browne-Dianis said.

The group studied the allocation of voting machines in Alexandria, Fairfax County, Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, as well as Richmond.

While the civil-rights group was worrying about voting, the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia accused the Democrats of pursuing a "no inmate left behind" vote-registration scheme.

Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick of Prince William cited news reports that the Democratic sheriffs of Petersburg and Fairfax were signing up voters from their jail cells. Felons can't vote, but those with misdemeanor convictions can.

Frederick said their activities are not illegal.

He pointed to recent news reports that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has restored the voting rights of nonviolent felons.

"Is this how [Democratic candidate Barack] Obama expects to win the presidency -- with a coalition of criminals?" he asked.

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.