Did you hear

the story about the pre-election e-mail that said last week's balloting

would be extended to two days?

The widely

circulated e-mail said that due to an expected heavy voter turnout, polls

would be open both Tuesday and Wednesday. Republicans and Independents

were urged to vote Tuesday, Democrats Wednesday.

Good one, huh?

County and state elections officials didn't think so. They bumped the

message up to the Justice Department of the United States where such matters

are not regarded with humor.

The message,

which was called to the attention of Carolyn Combs in Fayette County's

elections office, "looked very official," Combs said, and purported

to originate from the state Elections Commission. The source of the e-mail

had not been identified late last week.

"Now that

we're in the electronic age, scams like this may become more common,"

Combs said. She had also heard reports of on-line and telephone registration

schemes which had convinced citizens erroneously that they had registered

to vote.