Baxter voters: Long lines out of line
BAXTER - High voter turnout had some people in the Brainerd School District special election waiting up to an hour to vote Tuesday.
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At Baxter City Hall, the only polling place in the city, lines of more than 70 people extended through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk. The average wait at about 2 p.m. was 45 minutes and several people said they had waited an hour.
"This is disgusting," said Bruce Arganbright as he left Baxter City Hall. "We waited too long and in the cold, too. It seems to me they should have opened at 7 a.m. or had more polling places."
Beva Olson, Baxter precinct's head election judge, said people were lined up outside of city hall as soon as the polls opened at noon.
Voters lined up as darkness fell Tuesday night outside the Baxter City Hall during the Brainerd School District election. The polls were flooded with voters, causing long lines and forcing voters to wait in the dark and cold before casting their votes.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls» Purchase reprints of this photo.
"We really should have had two precincts, but they deemed one was sufficient so we have long lines," Olson said Tuesday afternoon.
Steve Dickinson, Brainerd School District business manager and election official, said the busiest precincts with the longest lines Tuesday afternoon were Baxter and Unorganized Territory.
Dickinson said though voter turnout was expected to be a record for this year's election it was a joint decision made in August between the school district and Crow Wing County to only have one polling precinct in Baxter and Unorganized Territory.
"We never recommended that they only have one," said Crow Wing County Auditor Deborah Erickson.
Erickson said historically the school district has had one precinct in both Baxter and Unorganized Territory but she recommended the district look at having two polling sites in Baxter, at least, because the city is growing.
"It was terrible. It's a very poor setting for a big vote like this. It can't be managed, there's too many people."
Elaine Borders
Who with her husband, Clinton Borders, stood in line for about 45 minutes Tuesday to vote in Baxter.
"In hindsight, yeah, I think we should have done at least two," polling places in each precinct, Dickinson said.
Dickinson said the last election to have a high voter turnout was the Forestview Middle School bond referendum, with about 8,500 voters. He said school officials estimated between 11,000-12,000 for this year's election, about a 65 percent turnout of registered voters.
"I would expect we're going to exceed that possibly, at least in some precincts," he said.
Several people said they arrived at Baxter City Hall at 8 a.m., only to be told the polls wouldn't open for four hours. Some people arrived at noon, only to leave and return later after seeing the long lines.
"It was terrible," said Elaine Borders, who with her husband, Clinton Borders, stood in line about 45 minutes to vote in Baxter. "It's a very poor setting for a big vote like this. It can't be managed, there's too many people."
People waited in the cold weather in long lines at Baxter City Hall in order to vote in Tuesday's Brainerd School District election. As of 2 p.m., more than 500 people had voted in Baxter.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls» Purchase reprints of this photo.
The Borders first arrived at Baxter City Hall at noon, saw the long lines and came back at 1 p.m. only to see a longer line.
"We've had our time in the lines," Clinton Borders said with a chuckle.
Baxter resident Ron Bender said though lines were long, there was no wait for polling booths. He said though he had to wait in line for more than a half-hour to sign in to vote, the actual voting only took minutes.
"I hate to say this, but it looks like too many old people trying to find their names in the book," Bender said.
In even year elections for city, state and federal offices, polling places are required to be open at 7 a.m. in cities and as late as 10 a.m. in some townships, depending upon population. Polling places for school elections are historically open from noon-8 p.m.
Several Baxter voters said they showed up at city hall between 7-8 a.m. expecting to be able to vote, only to be turned away.
Brainerd School Superintendent Jerry Walseth said the district has listed polling times in the Dispatch, on the district's Web site and on the district's television channel.
"If somebody didn't realize that then they probably only decided to check on the hours today," Dickinson said.
As the sun went down the lines continued at Baxter City Hall. There were about 50 people standing outside the building in the dark and cold shortly after 5:30 p.m.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.