By Michael Kiefer | The Arizona Republic
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice informed the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office on Friday that it was investigating how the office handled the March 22 Presidential Preference Election.
County Recorder Helen Purcell and her elections director, Karen Osborne, seriously misjudged voter turnout for the races pitting Donald Trump against Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders. After the number of polling places was cut to 60 from a 2012 total of 200, voters waited in line for up to five hours to vote. Some polling places stayed open until after midnight to accommodate voters who were already in line at 7 p.m. when the polls officially closed.
