In election news, delays at the Department of Homeland Security in handling US citizenship applications could mean that several hundred thousand people will not be granted citizenship in time to cast ballots in the 2008 election. The government blamed the delay on an influx in applications prior to July 30, when there was a fee hike to file citizenship papers. The Washington Post reports that before the fee hike citizenship cases typically took about seven months to complete. Now, immigration officials are taking sixteen to eighteen months on average to process applications. Such a time line would push many prospective citizens well past voter registration deadlines for the 2008 primaries and the general elections.