‘Unmitigated failure’: Voters, officials at Salt Lake County caucus address delays
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — On Super Tuesday, some voters experienced hours-long delays at East High School after an online system experienced some issues — though answers about the exact cause of the delay were mixed.
Many people at the Salt Lake County Republican Party caucus at East High School called their experience unconstitutional.
“This is ridiculous. We arrived on time, my neighbor and I both pre-registered three weeks ago, we were organized,” one voter said. “We were excited about this, and to be disenfranchised this way, I mean, it’s not democracy.”
READ MORE: Super Tuesday trouble: Delays reported in Salt Lake, Box Elder caucuses among others
“Check-in is often a long process, but this is particularly long, especially given this is the pre-registered line, which you think would’ve saved us time,” registered Republican Crystal Young said.
Check-in started at 6 p.m. and lines of hundreds quickly filled the hall, with one voter telling ABC4.com that they had already been waiting for about 45 minutes.
Jordan Gurr was assisting with registration and is the precinct’s chairman and delegate. He said it seemed like there was more people in line, more demand and less organization.
“There’s a little extra chaos,” Gurr said. “There’s been computer check-in that’s supposed to speed it up, but it’s almost complicated that.”
Other workers said it was an issue with the QR codes that were used to register. Workers said it was an issue they could not have foreseen.
Whether it was the system itself or the number of people in attendance, many were not happy and said they don’t believe in a caucus anymore.
“Failure. Unmitigated failure. People are angry,” registered Republican Andra Gheat said. “You can look at this long line. People are not happy. People are not feeling like they’re sharing their opinions with their neighbor constructively — that they’re trying to make it hard for us.”
Another voter told ABC4.com that she was waiting for nearly two hours, but by the time she worked out her registration with volunteers, her precinct had already voted.
Lines at East High School eventually began to clear around 8:15 p.m. — more than an hour after the caucus was planned to start.
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