News

Actions

Frustrations on primary day in Palm Beach County

Posted at 8:03 PM, Mar 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-16 20:03:34-04

The 2016 primaries are now in the books - but politics aside - many of you are still talking about the issues you faced when you cast your ballots Tuesday. 

Complaints of people not being able to vote for their candidate ran rampant in social media, even making their way to the national media

The issue, the Supervisor of Elections Office says, was many people trying to vote were registered independents.

Last year, voters registered as Independents and registered for other minor parties actually outnumbered registered Republicans in Palm Beach County.

According to state law, if you don't register as a Republican or Democrat at least 29 days before the election, you can only vote on local issues - NOT for presidential candidates. 

Both poll workers and voters tell us Tuesday was very frustrating.

One poll worker we spoke to off camera says there was chaos.

She says voters were yelling, screaming and being flat out rude to workers.

Another worker tells us voters walked out or even refused to vote because of the confusion. 

Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher says her workers were just following the rules. 

She says the complaints were unlike any she’s been in her 8 years here.

“We experienced it as well at our office and the telephones and on emails all day,” she says. “It's unfortunate…these people are trained, they have to adhere to state law, and the law is the law. And that's what I swear to uphold and that's what I did.” 

Bucher says with another primary election on August 30th, now is the time to remember to change your party affiliation at least 29 days in advance - so you don't face the same issues again.