Did you stand in line to vote yesterday? If you did, you probably were not very happy.
So were several leaders, including Gov. Doug Ducey, Secretary of State Michele Reagan and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
Ducey released a statement early Wednesday praising the high voter turnout, but called the hours-long wait-times "unacceptable" and demanded changes take place so it does not happen again.
Scroll down to read his full statement.
Secretary of State Michele Reagan released a statement Wednesday afternoon calling the various issues "completely unacceptable" and confirmed her office would be launching a "full-scale statewide review of county election policies and procedures surrounding yesterday's election."
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting an investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Stanton took issue with the limited number of polling locations around the Valley, specifically in areas with a higher minority populations.
"This is unacceptable anywhere in the United States, and I am angry that County elections officials allowed it to happen in my city," said Stanton.
“Because of the unacceptably disparate distributions of polling locations, I respectfully request the U.S. Department of Justice investigate what took place in Maricopa County to ensure all voters are treated equally under the law.” Click here to read his full letter.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE HOURS TO VOTE
Several voters stood in line for hours during Tuesday's presidential preference election, some waiting over 5 1/2 hours to cast their ballots, long after the polls closed (if you were in line before 7 p.m., you would still be able to vote) and long after the winners were projected.
ELECTION OFFICIAL: BLAME ME FOR ELECTION WOES
Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell told the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors during a meeting Wednesday morning that she "takes full responsibility for what happened" during the elections.
LEADERSHIP STATEMENTS:
GOV. DOUG DUCEY:
“Voting is one of our most important rights and responsibilities, and yesterday, a record number of Arizonans turned out to cast their choice for president. I’m glad to see so many Arizonans step up to make their voice heard for the candidate of their choice. However, it’s unacceptable that many of them had to battle incredibly long lines. Our election officials must evaluate what went wrong and how they make sure it doesn’t happen again.
"One way we can fix things is to simplify them. That means allowing independents to vote in presidential primaries, just as they vote in all other Arizona primaries. A big part of yesterday's problem was registered voters showing up, and being told they couldn’t vote. That's just wrong. If people want to take the time to vote they should be able to, and their vote should be counted."
What happened at polls yesterday was unacceptable. Read my full statement #AZVOTES pic.twitter.com/UqcRMCaQ70
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) March 23, 2016
REP. JONATHAN LARKIN, D-GLENDALE (DISTRICT 30)
"If we are asking for people to participate in elections, they should be well planned. The long lines and unacceptable wait times indicate to me that elections officials were not prepared. Ultimately, that is Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell’s responsibility. She failed to meet that obligation, and so she should resign immediately."
INDEPENDENT VOTERS FOR ARIZONA
Election officials said on Tuesday that several things contributed to the election issues:
Because there are competitive races on both Republican and Democratic sides of the presidential race, turnout was much higher than normal. Between 60 and 65 percent of eligible voters were expected to vote on Tuesday.
Voter confusion also played a factor. Voters who did not pre-register with a party affiliation by the February deadline were not eligible to participate; however, many non-affiliated voters insisted on filing provisional ballots which take longer to process at the polling places.
This year, Maricopa County also consolidated polling locations to just 60 this time. Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell says the decision to consolidate was based on cost savings and other factors.
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office says the decrease in polling places had to do with the number of early voters and the number of registered Independent voters.
There are only 1.25 million eligible voters for Tuesday’s election and 890,000 early ballots were sent out, leaving about 300,000 voters who would need to show up to polling places.
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office also says a majority of voters are Independents, meaning that a majority of voters wouldn’t have been allowed to cast a vote on Tuesday.
"It's almost like they want to disenfranchise us; I don't think it's right," Scott Richardson said. "I'm going to vote against her when she runs again. Helen Purcell shouldn't be elected again."
ABC15 asked Purcell, after the criticism she's received, if she'd do it the same way next time.
"We will have polling places like this," Purcell said. "Maybe, we will have more. Maybe we will look at the locations. Maybe it's better located some place else. Maybe in certain locations we will have more. Maybe we can have a larger place where we can put more electronic poll books and more people."
