Campaign '08

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ― Almost 1,000 people lined up in Fort Lauderdale at the African American Research Center Monday, all anxious to have their say in the election. Though the polls closed at 6p.m., the last voter cast their ballot just before 10p.m. on the first day of Early Voting. It was an unprecedented turnout, but some say it took way too long to cast a ballot.

Hoping to beat the rush on November 4th, Danny Reynolds made sure he made it to Miami Beach City Hall just before seven this morning in the hopes of casting his vote and getting to work on time. But then he ran into a problem.

"I think it's really unacceptable," said Reynolds.

Reynolds said there were only twenty five people in front of him, but he ended up having to wait forty five minutes in line because some of the computers used to check in voters weren't working. There were no problems, however, with the optical scan machines used to count ballots.

"The people in charge of the election, the people we pay to do this, they should've booted these machines up, they should have practiced and it should have been okay," said Reynolds.

While Miami-Dade County Election officials said the Scantronic machines were re-booted and were up and running fairly quickly, voter Dave Goebler pointed to the snag as one reason people need to vote early. He and several others even spent the night in sleeping bags to make sure they were one of the first to cast their votes.

"The line is building, my concern is that this is why we are encouraging early voting because you know on November fourth there could be a lot of people and it's a new process," said Goebler.

In Broward County, people weren't very surprised to see long lines. "Three hours and eight minutes," voter Bob Gilmore said he waited in line in Fort Lauderdale. A sign on the front door told voters to expect waits of around three hours, 15 minutes. Hundreds of voters lined up outside the African American Library in Fort Lauderdale. Some people waited more than five hours to cast their ballots, and their patience paid off when extra voting machines were dropped off.

Broward Election supervisor Brenda Snipes came by to check things out and ended up working because it was so busy. "I think the Secretary of State said a line represents a healthy democracy," she said as she worked.

If that's true, we have a very healthy democracy – and a bit of a log jam. The way the new paper ballot system works, when the voter's driver's license is swiped, a ballot prints, and that takes time. Couple that with not a lot of printers and few workers and you get a back up.

Miami voters had long waits, too. A line snaked around the Miami Government Center. Some folks gave up! "It's crowded in there," Tammie Burwell explained, "I can't stand in line. I'm going to come back tomorrow."

At the Miami-Dade Public library at the Joseph Caleb Center, it was a very busy morning as hundreds of folks lined up to vote. Earlier it was reported that only one of the four Scantronic machines were up and running, leading to a longer than usual wait. Officials said the problem was the same as the issue on Miami Beach and was quickly resolved.

Singing union members chanted as they arrived to cast their vote. The Service Employees International Union members came out in strong numbers to cast their ballots early as the lines at County Hall moved fairly quickly with no issues or problems to speak of.

Broward County did have two more serious problems. In Hallandale, a communications error with the ballot printing machines caused a delay in opening the polls. And at Deerfield a communications problem with the printer responsible for the ballots caused a longer wait time.

Despite all the long waits, many say it's well worth their time. "We would have waited ten to 12 hours if we had to," Stephanie Washington and Joe Williams said. They were lucky; they only had to wait for four.

Currently all 17 early voting sites in Broward and all 20 in Miami-Dade are up and running. Congressman Kendrick Meek is concerned about the long lines, however. He wants to see more machines and poll workers at early voting sites. He says he'll file legal action if necessary.

"There's something very, very wrong, I think, when a taxpayer goes to vote and it becomes an all-day experience."

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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