'It's a debacle. This is unorganized, unprofessional,' one voter said. 'Mayhem,' 6-hour waits in Miami

MIAMI — Voting is continuing into the night Tuesday at a condo tower south of downtown here where “Hispanics for Obama” placards compete with an anti-communist poster taped to a palmetto bush — and where some residents say they’ve waited as long six hours to cast their ballots.

“This is mayhem,” said Carla Batlle of Miami, who emerged with her husband, Adrian, after an ordeal that began at 1:10 p.m. and didn’t end until almost 7. “It’s a debacle. This is unorganized, unprofessional.”


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“It’s not going well at all,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said as he trudged through the parking lot while people in the parking lot yelled, “Shame on you” and “Venezuela runs better elections.”

Adrian Batlle said it took him only 10 minutes to vote, but first he had to wait hours in various lines trying to find a poll worker who had his name on the registration rolls.

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“I don’t think it’s worth it,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it again.”

Hundreds more were still waiting in a line snaking through the parking lot well past the official 7 p.m. EST closing time for the polls. (Polls close an hour later for Florida Panhandle counties that are on Central Time.)

“Somebody put six precincts here,” Gimenez said. “I’m going to find out why we put six precincts here and didn’t spread it around. And not enough resources here.”

Everyone who made it into the locked parking lot by 7 p.m. would be allowed to vote, officials promise, and those who made it far enough could enjoy some free chips and Animal Crackers brought by some local Good Samaritans.

But some were on the verge of giving up.

“I’m not going to make this line — I’ve got kids at home,” yelled a woman who said she was making her third attempt of the day to vote, for a total of four hours and counting. Refusing to give her name, she told a reporter: “I’m sick and tired of all you guys saying, ‘Just go vote. Just go vote.’ Does this look like you want me to vote?”

“I will never do this,” she said. “I will never vote again in my life.”

Obama volunteers blamed the fiasco on Republican Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP-dominated Legislature, which shortened early voting from 14 days to eight days. Another problem was the lengthy ballot, which included 11 proposed constitutional amendments on topics including abortion, limits on state revenues and a ban on mandated health insurance.

Some voters took up to an hour to navigate the amendments alone, Obama volunteer Glenn Terry said.

“The politicians who created this ugly mess are obviously benefiting by it and doing nothing to make it better,” he said. “Of course there are places that have no line.”

But Romney volunteers in the crowd called it ridiculous to blame the long lines here on Republicans, saying this was a GOP-heavy polling place.

“People are enthusiastic because they want to get Obama out of office,” said volunteer Monica Downey. “It’s a big turnout.”

In the end, the process took almost three extra hours. At 9:41 p.m., a cheer went up among a handful of poll workers as they admitted the final voter of the night.

That still left dozens of voters inside the polling place at 10 p.m., either filling out their ballots or waiting to turn them in.

This article tagged under: Florida

2012 Election