Voters packed election locations on Tuesday to place their ballots for the Missouri primary.
The Waldo Branch Library on East 75th Street had a two-hour wait at points in the evening. It was one of a number of spots across the metro area that saw a strong turnout from voters.
This is what a 2 hour line for the #MissouriPrimary looks like. Slow internet leading to delays at Waldo library pic.twitter.com/zaHr8myFBK
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) March 16, 2016
"I've lived in Waldo for 14 years," explained Susanna Reith, who showed up to vote around 6:15 p.m. "I've never seen anything like this where it's wrapped around the whole building."
Election volunteers at the library blamed the long lines on slow Internet. The bad connection meant registration machines took more time to load before voters cast their ballots.
"I can remember they would just go through the book and it seemed like it worked fine," explained Dan McDonald, who waited over an hour in line to vote. "You would get inside and it was another five- or 10-minute wait for the tablet to pull up."
At one point in the evening, election volunteers asked voters to turn off their cell phones to help speed up the Internet connection.
"The turnout was quite astonishing and completely unexpected," election volunteer and librarian Mary Scholbe said.
Polls in Missouri closed at 7 p.m.; however, the last voter didn't leave the Waldo library until around 9 p.m.
The last voter *just* left Waldo library after waiting in line for 2 hours. #MissouriPrimary pic.twitter.com/zXAnR7hsji
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) March 16, 2016
"I think it's important to utilize my right to vote," said Amelia Howard, the last voter. "I want my voice to be heard, so I wanted to be a part of that today."
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at tom.dempsey@kshb.com.
