As the 7 p.m. deadline for voting fell across Tampa Bay, hundreds of voters stood in line outside churches and community centers waiting to cast ballots as the day's high turnout continued to pack some polling locations into the evening.
The after-work surge was uneven, but startling.
Voters who were in line at 7 p.m. were being permitted to vote. An election official marked the end of the line and remained there to inform late voters that they would not be allowed to enter the polling place.
Before 7 p.m., there were at least 250 people in line at the Asian Family and Community Empowerment Center in St. Petersburg on First Ave. S. Voters lined the sidewalks in front of the building and the Florida Democratic Party showed up with cases of bottled water and a promise of pizza.
At 7 p.m. many people had been standing in line for more than an hour already.
Likewise, at the Lake View Presbyterian Church on 22nd Ave. South in St. Petersburg, more than 50 people stood in line. Voters who had finished then said it had taken more than an hour to vote, largely because the precinct had only five voting machines inside.
"I've never had to wait this long to vote in any election," said Jessica Brumley, 28, a nurse-midwife. She arrived at 5:20 and finished at 7:10. She had come to the poll with her toddler son, but when the wait began to get long she called her husband and had him get the baby.
With the line snaked around the church, volunteers with advocacy groups such as Power On were giving away pizza, bottled water, potato chips and apples.
Pollworkers at the University Community Center in Tampa counted down to 7 p.m. for a crowd outside.
"One minute!" they called."If you're voting, now's the time!"
People outside took heed of the warning and started power walking toward the entrance.
But for Vicki Gardner, 23, of Riverview, it was one minute too late. She didn't get in before the deadline.
"I didn't get a chance to make my vote count," she said sadly.
But the crowds were spotty. In Madeira Beach, Jack Battle took note of the time, minutes before the polls closed, and was a bit chagrined. He had waited three hours to cast an early ballot a week ago.
His wife, Barbara, didn't. She stayed home on Election Day and kept an eye on the polling place, the Madeira Beach City Hall, using binoculars. Just before 7 p.m. she saw an opening, raced in and voted in moments.
"She's smarter than I am," Battle said. "She always told me that."[Last modified November 2, 2004, 20:07:09]
