Voters from predominantly black and Latino neighbourhoods were forced to wait for hours to cast their ballot in Texas on Super Tuesday after long lines were reported at some polling stations.

Election officials in the Houston area were forced to send in additional voting machines as thousands of people reportedly waited for up to five hours to vote at one station.

The long waits came after the closure of hundreds of polling stations across Texas by the Republican-led state government since 2012.

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow suggested voting difficulties had been caused in part by the “systematic” closing of stations in areas with high turnout for minority voters, poor people and young people.

“It is an outrage that it is this hard to cast a vote in this country,” Ms Maddow said on Tuesday night.

Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Show all 29 1 /29 Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states An anti-dairy protester is led away after storming the stage at Joe Biden's Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles, California EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a Super Tuesday party in Texas AFP/Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Joe Biden hold up an election pooster from Barack Obama's 2008 run at a Super Tuesday event for the Democratic contender Reuters Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Bernie Sander takes to the stage before supporters during his Super Tuesday event in Vermont EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a Super Tuesday party in Texas AFP/Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a watch party in Texas AFP/Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Joe Biden gestures to suppporters at a Super Tuesday event for the Democratic contender AP Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Elizabeth Warren waves to supporters at a rally in Michigan as results come in following Super Tuesday Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A spray painted mural of presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders on the side of a building in Kirby, Vernont EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sandes cheer at a Super Tuesday rally in Vermont Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Elizabeth Warren hold sings and cheer in Cambridge Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren leaves the voting booth at the Graham & Parks School in Cambridge, Massachusetts Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A poster for sale at a rally for Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday in Vermont Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic voter Elliot Zaagman wears a protective mask as he poses for a photo after casting his ballot in Bangkok, Thailand EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Daisy, a Golden Retriever, outside a polling in San Diego. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (greets fellow voters after casting his ballot in his state's primary election at the Robert Miller Community Center in Burlington, Vermont Getty Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A first time voter stands behind a voting booth in a polling location for the North Carolina primary Reuters Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg takes part in his Super Tuesday night rally in West Palm Beach, Florida Reuters Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Fourteen states are holding their primaries with more than one third of the total pledged delegates in the Democratic primaries to be awarded on Super Tuesday Getty Images Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and her husband Bruce Mann greet supporters as they walk to a polling site to vote on Super Tuesday in Cambridge, Massachusett EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Voters cast their ballots at a polling location inside an elementary school on Super Tuesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democrat Jamie Wilson displays a sticker after voting in the Super Tuesday primary at John H. Reagan Elementary School in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (AP Photo/LM Otero) LM Otero AP Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic voter Le'ana Freeman poses for a photo after casting her ballot at a polling station in Bangkok EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Voters arrive to cast their ballots at a polling location inside Hunter House at Nottoway Park in Vienna EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democrat Jamie Wilson gets a sticker after voting in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas AP Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A Polling Place sign in the border town of Hidalgo, Texas EPA Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A girl carries her mothers ballot to the table where she will fill in her choice at the Taylor Elementary School polling location in Arlington Getty Images Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A man wearing an 'I Voted' sticker and a 'Bernie Abroad' badge after voting in the American presidential primary in Oxford, England Getty Images Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Stickers for people who vote AFP via Getty Images

“I know it’s not only Texas but in Texas, specifically over successive electoral cycles over the past 10 years, the Republican-led government has made it harder and harder and harder to vote,” she added.

With 90 per cent of precincts reporting, Joe Biden was leading in Texas with 33.5 per cent of the vote, beating Bernie Sanders on 30 per cent.

The Texas Civil Rights Project, a non-profit legal organisation, said the long waits were part of a “predictable trend” in elections across Harris County, the county which contains Houston.

“Once again, black and brown voters in #HarrisCo are facing unacceptable wait times in their communities,” the group wrote on Twitter.

“We know that some voters have already given up and gone home. This is not the first time this has happened.”

In 2013, the US Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that forced jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory voting practices to seek approval before changing election rules.

Following that decision, Texas implemented a law requiring voters to present photo IDs at polling stations and began closing voting sites.

Ari Berman, the author of the voting rights book Give Us the Ballot, described the delays as "voter suppression" and warned there would be similar problems in the November presidential election if action is not taken.

“Four hour lines in Democratic & minority communities in Texas [are] a preview of voter suppression GOP planning for November,” Mr Berman said on Tuesday.

“Dems need to keep eyes on prize and develop strategy for combatting this, no matter who the nominee is.”

The issue of voter suppression is likely to be a major issue in the 2020 election, especially as Democrats hope to win Texas for the first time in decades with strong support from black and Latino voters.

Delays were also reported in Travis County, Texas, due to coronavirus after many election workers did not show up, with some citing fears of contracting the virus, according to the county clerk’s office.

The election office said it implemented emergency procedures, with elections staff and other employees filling in as poll workers.