Mary Jo Pitzl, and Emily Balli

The Republic | azcentral.com

Tonya MacBeth showed up at her local early-voting site Thursday morning, eager to cast her ballot. But an hour and 40 minutes later, she left concerned that the lines could, once again, deter voters.

"I think they're just completely overwhelmed," MacBeth said of city workers staffing the site at Cave Creek Town Hall.

Indeed they are. Town Manager Peter Jankowski is one of those workers. They have seen waits of two to three hours this week, as people from outside the small north Valley enclave drive in to cast a ballot in advance of Nov. 8.

Thirty people left Wednesday without voting, discouraged by the long wait or pulled away by other appointments, he said.

Jankowski faults the Maricopa County Recorder's Office for not providing enough sites for in-person early voting.

"We all know it's a crazy election," he said. It should have been easy to anticipate voter enthusiasm in what has been one of the most contentious presidential elections in decades, he said.

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Although there are 25 sites throughout Maricopa County, the next closest to Cave Creek Town Hall to the east, west and south are all miles away, in downtown Scottsdale, downtown Glendale and downtown Phoenix. People don't want to drive that far, Jankowski said.

About 4:00 p.m. Thursday at the Cartwright School District Annex building in Maryvale, voters were told they would have to wait about 90 minutes to cast a ballot.

Rebecca Martinez, 50, was one of the roughly 60 voters there. She said she had considered voting Wednesday but was told it would take four hours, so she she decided to wait a day.

"Yesterday I decided it was too long of a wait," Martinez said. "But it's worth waiting the hour and a half as long as our votes count."

At Scottsdale City Hall, Susette Faulkner, 51, waited more than two hours to cast her early vote. Once she realized how long it was going to take, she rearranged plans for work and to babysit her grandson.

Thursday was the first time she voted early. And while she would rather not have waited, she thought more people should be upset with the way the election has played out over the past year than the actual voting process.

"It would be nice to be able to come in and out quicker, but I think this is the least of the problem," Faulkner said.

Although hundreds of people were willing to wait for two hours, others left when they were told how long it would be. At one point, Faulkner said a man began to yell because he was angry about voting paperwork.

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County: Vote at less-popular sites

County officials, who were excoriated for long lines during the March presidential-preference election, say they're aware of long waits at several sites, and will send extra equipment to address what is expected to be a closing rush Friday, the last day of in-person early voting.

But they say the best option is to hit one of the less-popular sites.

"We have had low voter turnout at our two offices downtown, at the city of Phoenix building downtown, Maryvale, South Phoenix, ASU, Buckeye, and Litchfield Park," spokeswoman Elizabeth Bartholomew said in an email response to questions. Long waits have been reported in Scottsdale, Chandler, the county offices in Mesa and Glendale. A full list of the sites, a few of which will be open Saturday, is here.

Just after noon on Thursday at Phoenix City Hall, fewer than 10 people waited in line.

Ben Lane, a Phoenix deputy city clerk, said there have been no long waits or complaints from voters. He said fewer people voted at City Hall on Thursday compared with the day before, and that the busiest times were early in the morning and during lunch.

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Sivakumar Velagapudi, a Phoenix water-services employee, voted early on Thursday. He said it was easy and convenient.

The remote sites operate like the vote centers the county experimented with in March: Voters can show up at any location and get a ballot. That takes extra time, because staffers must verify the voter's information against the county database, print a ballot that has the proper congressional, legislative and local candidates, and then deliver it to the voter.

With only one printer and four staffers in Cave Creek, that takes time, said City Clerk Carrie Dyrek.

The county's promise to send more equipment won't be any help, Dyrek said: They need staff, and that must come at town expense. Besides, there's no time to hire, much less train, new people.

Concerns about going to the polls

In Scottsdale, Karin Cather showed up at her city hall late Wednesday to vote, only to be advised the wait would be 2½ to three hours. She left, hoping to return Thursday.

"I'm going to vote, don't get me wrong," she said. And she wants to vote early to avoid hassles on Election Day.

"I'm afraid, a little bit," she said. All the talk about voter intimidation and harassment made her leery of going to the polls Tuesday.

She returned Thursday about 9 a.m., and this time, the wait was 1 1/2 hours. She said city officials told her about 500 people have been voting at Scottsdale City Hall each day.

Despite the wait, people were courteous and chatted easily, Cather said — even though she suspected there were conflicting political ideologies.

The reports of long wait times have exasperated the Arizona Advocacy Network, a progressive-leaning organization that reached out to County Recorder Helen Purcell after the March election. The group pushed for even more early-voting sites.

Samantha Pstross, the group's executive director, sent a letter to Purcell late Wednesday asking her to request help from the U.S. Justice Department for Election Day voting.

Alisha Vandriel, a Scottsdale Community College student who went to Scottsdale City Hall to vote between classes, said the wait was "annoying, but expected."

She saw a silver lining in the situation. "I'm kind of happy that a lot of people are here because it seems like people actually care about this election," she said.

Experts predict long lines for some on Election Day in Maricopa County

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.