(2004-10-28) — In the wake of a new poll showing that President George Bush leads his opponent by two points in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell today ordered slot machines placed in every voting booth in time for Tuesday’s election.

Mr. Rendell, the former general chairman of the Democrat National Committee, said the move is designed to increase voter turnout and reduce disenfranchisement among “enlightened, progressive, intelligent and profoundly moral Pennsylvanians.”

Charter bus companies today scrambled to meet the demand from senior citizen groups for transportation to the new “Punch and Pull Polling Places”

Earlier this year, the governor won approval to place thousands of slots throughout the Commonwealth in order to increase funding for essential government services, like remedial math education and gambling addiction treatment programs.