Dean J. Koepfler/The News Tribune

Ginger Burchyett has never missed a chance voting in a presidential election.

The long lines at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Tacoma, though, were testing the 30-year-old patience.

“This is the most disorganized thing I’ve seen in my entire life,” said Burchyett, who had been waiting for more than two hours by noontime – and was only in the middle of her line. She was in danger of missing her 1 p.m. shift at a Puyallup veterinary clinic.

Other voters said they were waiting as many as three hours to cast their vote. The Pierce County Auditor’s office brought extra workers to help out, but more than 300 people still packed the basement of the church at 101 E. 38th St. More were waiting on the stairs.

Poll workers originally issued numbers for people waiting in line so they could wait elsewhere, but Auditor Pat McCarthy stopped that shortly after she and other workers from her office arrived.

The issue of handing out numbers frustrated many people waiting in line. Several complained that people who received numbers were allowed to skip to the front of the line.

McCarthy called the move “a real faux pas.”

“It was well-intentioned, but it just backfired,” she said.

The overflow crowd packed the basement, causing the Tacoma Fire Department to get involved. Phil Ferrell, the deputy fire marshal, estimated about 300 people were in the room at about 1 p.m. The basement has a maximum occupancy of 200.

"We'll need to line-queue them so they'll wait elsewhere," Ferrell told McCarthy.

"We're overcrowded everywhere," she responded.

"I understand," he said, "but this is a safety issue."

Ferrell said the department received calls from people who were worried about suffocating or concerned that they couldn't get out if there was a fire.

"Times like this is when things go wrong," he said. "It's a great turnout, but we just have safety issues here."

Ferrell routed many people upstairs, where they waited in the church's foyer or outside its doors. He then stood by the basement doors and kept order.

Andrew Dena said there were two lines when he arrived, but it has since split into four.

“This is the first – and last – time I’ve voted at this last station,” 59-year-old Andrew Dena said. “This is outrageous.”

People have remained relatively patient despite the problems.

“I’ve probably been the most optimistic person in line,” said 42-year-old Cecelia Crawford. “I feel like there was going to be long hours, so I’ve chose not to be angry about it.”

Still, Crawford had to miss a medical appointment because the lines were so long. Other voter problems do worry her, though. She held up a pen she said workers were handing out to fill out a ballot and another labeled “ballot pen.” The latter draws a line about three times thicker.

“I don’t even know if my ballot will be counted after all of this,” she said.