November 4th, 2008
05:38 PM ET
14 years ago

Long waits in the Detroit area

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/04/art.detroit.lines.jpg caption=" Michigan residents stand in line waiting to vote in the presidential election at the Coleman Young Community Center in Detroit."]
(CNN) - Estimates on the longest voting lines in Detroit, Michigan were as high as 5 hours. Election Protection, a non-partisan voting watch dog group, reported a 5 hour, 1,000 person long line at Detroit's Beth Eden Baptist Church earlier on Election Day. They said it was largely due to understaffed polling stations. While state officials echo that lines were long, especially in the morning rush, they couldn't confirm voters waited 5 hours at this location. "We heard a report that 1000 people waited 5 hours but when we got there at 3:00 pm, there were 100 people inside, 100 people outside and they had waited two and a half hours," said Kelly Chesney, Spokeswoman for Michigan's Secretary of State. They expect lines to swell again as people get out of work and while most polls close statewide at 8pm ET, 4 of Michigan's western counties, Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, and Menominee, are in the Central time zone and polls close there at 9pm ET (8pm CT). Voters still standing in line at 8pm will be allowed to cast their vote.

Updated 5:38 p.m.


Filed under: Michigan • Voter Problems