Some Voters Wait 4 Hours To Cast Ballot

UPDATED: 5:34 am EST November 3, 2004

CLEVELAND -- The polls closed in Ohio at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after a day that included judical rulings, long lines, and angry voters.

Polling places would remain open as long as voters were in line at 7:30 p.m.

The wait took up to four hours for some voters who were also left waiting in the rain. Otherwise, voting problems seem to have been minor overall.

Some polling places were caught short-handed with not enough poll workers, causing some voters to leave, hoping they could come back later in the day. Fout polling places opened late as workers didn't have access to buildings.

But for the most part, people didn't seem to mind. They wanted to cast their ballot no matter how long it took.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell was predicting that 73 percent of the state's 8 million registered voters will go to the polls.

SLIDESHOW: Election Day

That turnout would compare with 63 percent in 2000 and 77 percent in 1992, the highest since registration was required 28 years ago.

Still there were some problems at a couple of polling place that were significant.

Video

Voting Lines Come To Standstill

NewsChannel5's Joe Pagonakis witnessed the voting process nearly come to a standstill at Jamesion Elementary School on Cleveland's east side.

He said it was a seemingly endless line at the school on Harvard Avenue. The line was made up of voters from Ward One precinct "A." But as the line grew outside the polling place, inside, much of the time every voting booth remained empty.

Precinct workers said they had trouble processing provisional ballots and that they simply did not have enough poll workers to handle the large volume of voters. Some of those who had to wait hours say the poll workers were simply too old to handle the job.

"We never had trouble before. We just walk in and vote. Don't know why there is so much trouble this time," said Margaret First.

Workers said dozens of voters threw up their arms and left. Others said they would have waited five hours to cast their vote.

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