Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) — People outside a polling place near Pittsburgh were barred from asking voters for ID, a New Jersey judge was asked to extend deadlines for victims of Hurricane Sandy and an Ohio congressional candidate lost a bid to bar electronic vote machines he deemed at risk of tampering.

A Philadelphia judge even ordered that a mural of President Barack Obama at an elementary school be covered up.

These were just a few of a series of Election Day cases lodged in courts across the country today as voting in the presidential contest headed toward its denouement. Voter ID laws were the source of the majority of complaints, said Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

A hotline set up by voter rights advocacy groups had more than 71,000 calls, she said. Most came from California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, with “trend lines” showing major voter confusion where there are voter ID rules. Pennsylvania is one of nine states that passed laws requiring voters show state-issued ID. Seventeen states passed laws requiring voters to present some kind of photo ID. On Oct. 2, a Pennsylvania judge barred officials from requiring ID to vote, though they are allowed to ask for it.

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