(Photo by Casey Kuhn - KJZZ)

Early voters waited two and a half hours to cast ballots in Chandler

Early voting in Maricopa County ended Friday at 5 p.m., and this week voters experienced long lines to cast their ballots. While the Recorder's Office took steps to help run polling operations, even dozens of extra poll workers couldn’t stem the flow of early voters.

Combine last-minute ballots with six closed early-voting locations, and some people were waiting up to three hours at spots across the Valley.

At the Mesa elections office, things were off to a smooth start, where Richard Moore had a second attempt to vote early after he tried in Gilbert.

“And I went there yesterday, and it was a 3-hour wait, so I came over here today hoping it was shorter and it was much,” he said.

It was about a 45-minute wait. Drive a few miles south to Chandler, and the line to vote wrapped around City Hall.

Trump-supporter Dana O'Neill says she normally doesn’t vote early, but this year she felt it necessary.

“I want to make sure that Donald Trump gets as many votes early as possible," O'Neill said. "If it takes all day, that’s OK.”

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office did send six extra staff to the Chandler location, and more workers to all 19 locations still open Friday.

Latest data show with almost 60 percent of all expected ballots are already in.