Election official apologizes for long Bluffton, Hilton Head Island voting lines

The top Beaufort County election official apologized Wednesday for voting lines extending two hours or longer at some locations, citing limited resources as the main problem.

“The only thing we can do is apologize,” Marie Smalls, elections director, told The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. “We had to move some voting locations, and it directly affected voters. We don’t want there to be two-hour waits.”

Two-hour waits were not unusual Tuesday at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Bluffton and the county library’s Bluffton branch, as well as at Christ Lutheran Church on Hilton Head Island.

Natalie Hefter said she waited for more than two hours to cast her vote at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in a line that wrapped out the door and onto sidewalks lining Buckwalter Parkway.

“I saw people walk away after waiting in line for an hour,” she said. “It was frustrating to see. It was not a great experience.”

Smalls said long lines in some places resulted mainly because of high voter turnout coupled with a limited number of poll workers and voting space. For example, seven precincts that typically vote at Buckwalter Gymnasium were moved into a smaller venue at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church.

The gymnasium is under renovation and was expected to be open in time for the election, but Hurricane Matthew delayed its completion, Smalls said. That made it difficult for election officials to quickly find another location, she said..

“There are not that many places big enough to be used as a voting facility,” Smalls said. “We depend on public buildings and churches in the area. This takes months to plan.”

Jane Stouffer of Hilton Head said she believed that the polling location at Christ Lutheran Church was understaffed, which partly resulted in long lines. Still, she said workers were doing their best.

“The positive thing that came out of it is you ended up talking to everyone around you, and people were saying, ‘I have to get involved in the next election — I have to volunteer the next time so this doesn’t happen again.’ ” she said.

“This was more than normal traffic going into these buildings,” said Smalls. “The workers made signs to try to help understand. They worked hard — often 14- to 16-hour days. They were doing the best they could with what they had.”

High voter turnout made navigating the voting process difficult, Smalls said.

Seventy percent, or 79,100, of approximately 113,000 registered voters in the county cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election, she said, noting that presidential elections always see higher turnouts.

In comparison, in 2008, 76 percent, or 69,074, of 90,887 registered county voters participated in that election.

Smalls said the county Board of Voter Registration and Elections will likely discuss the issue at its next meeting. She said it’s possible she will make recommendations then about ways to eliminate long wait times.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Election official apologizes for long Bluffton, Hilton Head Island voting lines."