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Reports on the allegations by former executive Maureen Castaneda that Enron employees were shedding documents at the company's Houston, Texas offices. Action taken by the company in response to the claim; Role of evidence of document destruction in Congressional and criminal inquiries; Description of the shredding by Castaneda on television.

The article notes that election day in Harris County, Texas reported a range of problems at polling places, including some that opened late and others that ran out of paper for printing voted ballots.

HOUSTON -- For two years, Diego Gala, a Mexican immigrant in the country illegally, worked five days a week cleaning a private school for less than minimum wage. His employer refused to pay him overtime even when he was forced to work on the weekends. Mr. Gala did not speak up, fearing deportation if he reported his boss. ''I couldn't say nothing because I did not have papers,'' Mr. Gala said. ''So he was like, 'If you say something, you can just get deported. I can call immigration on you, or you can get fired.' '' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HOUSTON -- Arson investigators have been called in to scrutinize a fire that destroyed the warehouse where all of Harris County's voting machines were stored. The blaze left county officials scrambling to find enough equipment to hold an election in the nation's third-most-populous county. Election officials have come up with emergency plans to buy new electronic voting machines, borrow hundreds from other counties and use paper ballots as well. Still, the destruction of nearly 10,000 voting machines in the fire last month has raised fears here that voters will face long lines or other disruptions at polling stations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]