Election officials blame technology problems for long lines at KC polls

Election officials in Kansas City said technical problems contributed to the long lines at some polls for Missouri's primary Tuesday.

The biggest problem appeared to be with tablets that officials used to call up voter information, a process that's supposed to be quick.

"Instead of it taking a couple of seconds for a name to come up, it would take a couple of minutes," said Shelley McThomas of the Kansas City Election Board. "Of course, that caused lines."

Voter Josh King said a woman in line ahead of him had to fill out a provisional ballot because workers couldn't find her name in the system. He said the same thing happened to his wife less than 2 minutes later.

By midmorning, election officials started to hear about lines at polling stations, something that's not common for that time of day. Lines late in the day had some people waiting for more than an hour to vote.

Other election jurisdictions in the area also use the same tablets to check voter rolls. The technology is relatively new.

McThomas said the board will have a serious meeting with its vendor, Election Associates of St. Louis. She said she is not happy.

"It's not the kind of Election Day we're proud of," she said.

Kansas City has another election on April 5 to renew the city's 1 percent earnings tax.

Source: Election officials blame technology problems for long lines at KC polls