A large turnout combined with logistical issues at multiple voting centers resulted in long delays for in-person voters in Utah County on Tuesday.

From Highland to Orem, and Payson to Pleasant Grove, there were reports of long lines and printing issues that impacted the timing of when voting totals were released on election night. The state did not post any results until after 10 p.m.

Though each voting center was operated fully by the county clerk’s office, and not by staff in the cities where the voting centers were located, some city officials were on hand and witnessed the heavy delays.

Payson City Recorder Kim Holindrake was at City Hall throughout the day, staying until voting closed to help get people through. She estimated waiting times were at least two hours long and believes a lack of preparedness by the county played a factor.

“It is difficult to estimate the number of people that are going to come in,” Holindrake said. “But being a presidential election, the county should have known it was going to be busy.

“I don’t believe they had enough staff there, really, to help the amount of people who were coming through.”

Holindrake said the issues began midday Tuesday when one of the two printers on hand ran out of toner.

There was no additional toner in the supply cabinet, and voting officials spent the rest of the day using one operational printer to print ballots.

“Four of the poll workers are printing ballots, and now they’ve just got one machine, so it just slowed everything way, way down,” Holindrake said.

To the north, voting officials ran into the same issue at the Highland City offices, as one of their printers ran out of toner. That, combined with the high in-person turnout, resulted in approximately 90-minute waits to vote, said Highland City Recorder Stephannie Cottle.

“I feel like they had enough poll workers there. There were just a lot of people, right?” Cottle said.

“I think the number of people there was the biggest concern,” she added. “Yes, there were some technical glitches with the printers, but there were just a lot of people.”

Both Holindrake and Cottle emphasized the long wait times and printer issues were not the fault of poll workers. Holindrake called the workers “incredible,” and Cottle added that they “took things in stride” and did a good job of crowd control.

In Payson, though, the long wait times pushed the voting center past the deadline.

When polling closed at 8 p.m., Holindrake said the lines of registered and unregistered voters still waiting to cast their ballots each stretched out to 50-60 people. By law, they were still allowed to vote after the deadline because they had made it inside the building by 8 p.m.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson addressed the voting delays Wednesday, telling Utah News Dispatch she felt Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson was “caught flat-footed” and hoped that he learns from it.

“People who make mistakes and then are able to look internally and take accountability for their actions … and make changes for the better, that’s character. That’s just a good person. I hope that that’s what Aaron does,” Henderson said.

Davidson did not respond to the Daily Herald’s request for comment Wednesday afternoon.