‘Significant lines’ at several Montgomery County polls. Here’s why.

Montgomery County Board of Elections President David Naimon said “significant lines” at several of the country’s 200 polling sites meant some voters had to wait more than an hour to cast a ballot on Election Day.

The reason? Voters showing up at the wrong precinct. Among the sites with particularly long lines: the Silver Spring Civic Center and the Marilyn J. Praisner Community Recreation Center in Burtonsville.

Naimon, at a virtual media briefing on Wednesday, said some voters were still in line until around 9 p.m., an hour after polls closed. Voters who get in line before polls close may still vote.

Naimon said he met a 95-year-old woman voting at the Silver Spring Civic Center on Tuesday who was determined to vote in person despite her mobility issues and a more than hourlong wait.

Her dedication was inspiring, but she shouldn’t have had to wait nearly that long, Naimon said. “We want people to be able to get in and out in half an hour.”

Election Day voters may cast provisional ballots at precincts other than their own, but that can delay the counting of their votes, deny them the opportunity to vote in some local races and require that they fill out additional paperwork, Naimon said.

There are other complications with provisional ballots, Naimon added.

“If the paperwork is not exactly pristine, we are required to not accept those ballots,” he said at a virtual media briefing Wednesday.

The board does not yet have a final count of provisional ballots for this election.

Naimon and the board emphasized before the election that people should vote at the precinct assigned to them. Some voters who showed up at the wrong precinct opted to head to the right one, he said.

Naimon said the board will step up its public outreach before the next election to steer voters to their assigned precincts.

“We need to find a solution,” he said.