KJZZ:

On March 22, when Maricopa County voters had to wait in line for hours to vote in the presidential preference election at just 60 voting centers, Maricopa County Recorder’s Office staff said they were surprised by the number of independents who turned out to vote since only members of the Democratic, Republican or Green parties were allowed to participate.

“The problem is these independent voters are showing up, and they are not eligible to vote in this election,” Elizabeth Bartholomew of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office told KJZZ on election day. “So they’re taking time; they’re waiting in line; the poll worker has to explain to them why they’re not eligible to vote.”

But while county election officials were seemingly caught off guard by the number of independents at the polls this year, a KJZZanalysis found that even more independents tried to vote in 2008’s presidential preference election— the year county officials used as a model to predict turnout.