CIVIC DUTY

Early Voting Plagued By Long Lines

Voters in Boston, Phoenix and D.C. forced to endure hours in line.

The final day of early voting in cities across the U.S. on Friday saw voters angered by long lines and what they described as poorly organized work at polling stations. Voters in Phoenix, Boston, D.C. and other cities were forced to wait in lines that wrapped around city blocks on Friday. Many people said they had to wait hours just to get inside polling places. The long waits reportedly discouraged some voters from taking advantage of early voting, with some residents walking away from the lines and vowing to vote on Election Day instead. In Massachusetts, as of mid-day on Friday, authorities said 1 million residents had cast their votes early, while those still hoping to vote complained of ridiculously long lines. In D.C., authorities said there was a marked increase in early voting this year compared to 2012, with voters reporting a wait time of at least an hour and a half. In Phoenix, voters at various polling stations complained of a three-hour wait to vote, with many turned away after the polls closed. Voters in Phoenix complained of poorly organized work at polling stations and an insufficient number of workers to handle voter turnout. As of Friday, more than 33 million voters had already cast their ballots.