Photo by ksuzannec

The beauty of early voting is that you get to avoid the long lines on Election Day, right? Maybe not.

A number of the eight early voting center sites that opened throughout the city’s eight wards today have reported long lines and waits, with a few even reaching the two-hour mark. While the D.C. Board of Elections has said that record turnout is partly to blame—spurred by concerns over Hurricane Sandy’s impact on D.C.—there’s also the matter of how voting machines are being used.

Since anyone can vote in any early voting center, machines are assigned for a range of precincts. And while that allows flexibility for a voter to pick and choose any early voting site, it also means that the machines serving the neighborhoods directly around them are crowded while those assigned for precincts in other parts of the city remain somewhat empty. Additionally, no paper ballot were available at some of the centers. Ward 1 resident Bryce Pardo shared his experience at the Ward 1 early voting center:

I went to go do my civic duty this morning at 9AM at the satellite early voting center on Girard St. NW in Columbia Heights. I live a few blocks away so I thought it wouldn’t be a hassle. Boy was I wrong. I stood in line for 45 minutes to check in to vote. After checking in I had to go stand in another line to actually vote. I noticed that they had 6 machines but only 2 seemed to be utilized. Come to find out, the machines are dedicated to a range of precincts. For example, precincts 1-50 had 2 dedicated machines. Well as it so happens, the vast majority of people voting at this early voting campus were in Ward 1, precincts 1-50.

The board of elections, in the apparent lack of foresight, appropriated the same amount of machines for each range of precincts, leaving 4 hardly used machines. I counted maybe half a dozen voters using them. At first I thought they were out of order or for the handicapped.

In the end, I counted 40 or so people ahead of me in the line to vote and figure each vote would take approximately 2-3 minutes. I decided to leave and try again later.

After a second attempt after lunch, the problem was worse. The lines are even further backed up, wrapping around the gym several times. I still see the same amount of machines. I guess I’ll try again later this evening, but this lack of planning should be pointed out.

According to Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), who oversees the Board of Elections, additional machines were being shipped to various voting centers to speed the process for voters. She said that the board had “made an error in judging other precincts outside of the immediate neighborhood” where the each early voting center was located. According to her, in 2010 all voting precincts were programmed into every machines; that was not the case this year.

Needless to say, you might want to wait to vote; the centers are closed tomorrow but reopen on Monday. You could also skip over to another ward’s early voting site. According to the D.C. Board of Elections, 5,472 people voted at the early voting site at Judiciary Square, which has been open since Monday.

If you tried to vote today and experienced any problems, email us.