Precincts fail to open on time in Detroit, Dearborn

(WXYZ) - Voters who showed up on time to cast their ballots at Henry Ford High School in Detroit Tuesday morning either had to wait or they just left because the building was not open.

"That is very disrespectful to the candidates and the voters," said Christen Stott of Detroit.

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, who hustled to the school to figure out what was going on, says her precinct workers were there but the school's principal failed to open up the building on time.

Henry Ford High School is currently operated by the Education Achievement Authority, and not the Detroit School District.

Voting was delayed more than an hour at the high school. There were also reports from voters that school security was frisking voters.

"I told them you cannot frisk voters," Winfrey says.

The Education Achievement Authority of Michigan issued this statement on Tuesday:

"We regret that several temporary problems inconvenienced voters who were attempting to vote at Henry Ford High School when the polls opened this morning.  Those problems were quickly resolved and voters subsequently have been able to cast their ballots without any difficulty.

We are reviewing our internal procedures to assure than no similar problem occurs in November for the General Election and there are no further problems interfering with this most fundamental right of all Americans. "

In Dearborn, voting was delayed at three precincts because laptop computers did not arrive on time. This is the first time that city officials are using laptops to verify voter identification.

City officials are asking voters who left to come back and vote later. They are also offering to hand deliver an absentee ballot today to voters who cannot return to the polls.

Voters in Dearborn at the precincts where voting was delayed can call 313-943-2030 to request an absentee ballot be delivered to them.