Absent poll workers, small space caused long voting lines at Mesita Elementary

Several factors led to long lines and wait times that prompted some voters to leave before casting their ballots on Super Tuesday at Mesita Elementary School in West El Paso.

“I hate to hear that voters left because lines were too long and we’re really going to work with our judges on how to handle long lines,” said Lisa Wise, the El Paso County Elections Administrator in an interview Wednesday morning. ABC-7 spoke to three people who waited in line for more than an hour and left without casting their ballot Tuesday night.

Many people reported being in line for more than two hours. Even though the precinct closed its doors at 7 p.m., the voting continued until about 9 p.m., as people waited in line inside the school.

While there was no wait for Republican voters, hundreds of people waited in line to vote on the Democratic ticket.

“It’s taking forever for each person to vote and I think it’s total incompetence on the part of whoever is responsible of this voting station,” said Shawn Hill, a resident who said he waited for more than two hours before convincing poll workers to let him cut in line because his oxygen tank was running low. “I have COPD and I get out of breath very quickly and I’ve never had to wait this long at this precinct,” Hill said.

Wise said two of the poll workers did not show up to their shifts and the precinct judge did not notify the elections department.

“He would have normally have four clerks at the site. He told me when we met last night that one called in sick and the other one had to go out of town at the last minute. And we told him to call us so we can send out a replacement and he said he got too busy so obviously we have to work on the communication,” Wise said.

Respective political parties choose the volunteers at each precinct and pay for the primary election, but the elections department has a group of stand-by poll workers at the courthouse in case of contingencies.

The elections department ultimately did send reinforcements after learning about the long lines through a rover checking on precincts. However, by that time it was after 5 p.m. and the lines were already long, filled with people trying to vote after work.

“A 20-minute wait, a-15 minute wait is not that alarming, but when you get into the 45-minute, the hour-, longer-than-an-hour — that is very concerning,” Wise said.

There were also fewer voting machines at Mesita Elementary compared to prior elections. Voting usually happens at the Mesita auditorium, but with a school play there Monday, voting was relegated to a smaller room with only five voting machines for Democrats and four for Republicans. Wise said she will work with the school district to avoid using the smaller room again and returning the booths to the school’s auditorium for the next election.

It was also possible to allow Democrats to vote on the machines set up for the Republican ticket, but those machines were put away by about 8 p.m., several voters noticed.

“I really want to work with our poll workers on handling crowds better, on handling lines better. I think a lot of them because we don’t have a lot of lines, because we don’t have a lot of crowds, they almost go into a slight panic when they see a lot of people,” Wise said.

She added that any voters who experienced long waits at the polls should call her office so the elections department can improve on those issues.

“We’re going to work on the problem. I’m very hopeful and I’m optimistic that we’re going to find a solution but I also want them to please reach out to us because we’re in the debriefing,” she said.