Voters form lines an hour before polls open

INDIANAPOLIS – Thousands of people formed long lines at polling sites across Indiana on Tuesday for the last chance to cast a ballot in the state’s historic election season.

Voters lined up an hour before polls opened in cities including Hammond and Bloomington, and larger precincts reported waits of up to two hours throughout the day despite record early voting.

“I would say this is probably the most important election we’ve ever voted,” said John Hughel, 75, of Indianapolis, who gave his first vote for president in 1960 to John F. Kennedy.

Sporadic problems developed, including poll workers who didn’t show up, machine and power glitches, and voters going to the wrong sites, but election officials and watchdog groups appeared pleased overall with the voting process.

“Given the volume, we’re breathing big sighs of relief,” said Julia Vaughn, director of the government watchdog group Common Cause.

Even Lake County seemed to proceed smoothly, despite a history of political corruption, a late vote tally in the May primary and a dispute over early voting that had left many nervous.

“Things are going along well,” said Lake County Election Board attorney Fred Work.
Lake County has not chosen a Republican for president since Richard Nixon in 1972 and was seen as a crucial factor in Democrats’ efforts to win the state’s presidential votes for the first time since 1964. The county is the state’s second most populous and most diverse and was expected to heavily favor Barack Obama over John McCain.

Bryce Smedley, a Democratic poll inspector in Monroe County, said some voters tried to present driver’s licenses from other states or forgot ID cards altogether. The county is home to IU and many out-of-state students.

“Some people have been very emotional about it,” Smedley said. “We had one guy who said he had lived here for nine years and was looking forward to casting a vote. He did cast a provisional ballot.”

Smedley said his precinct averaged about 200 voters per hour.

“We’ve had a lot of students, so whoever said students wouldn’t show up was wrong,”
Smedley said. “The students have shown up to have their voice heard.”

Statewide, a record 4.5 million voters were registered. Almost 669,000 people voted early, either in person or by mail-in ballot, by Tuesday morning. During the last presidential election in 2004, about 260,000 residents voted early.