AUGUSTA -- Long lines at the city's consolidated polling place Tuesday caused some residents to leave without voting.

Observers said lines flowed smoothly most of Election Day, but became lengthy and bottlenecked during an early evening rush.

At its worst, the line appeared to be at a near standstill for as long as 30 minutes at a time, making it time consuming for some residents to cast their votes and causing at least a few to give up and walk out.

The city consolidated voting from all four of its wards at the Augusta Civic Center in an effort to streamline the process and save money.

Jarody, an unsuccessful candidate for Augusta City Council, said he was at the polls for about 13 hours Tuesday, greeting voters. He said at one point a line extended outside.

He said at least some voters appeared to leave without voting due to the long wait, although he said some of them came back to vote later.

"A huge number of people showed up when everyone got out of work," said Jarody, who uses only one name. "It was definitely chaotic. Part of it may be because people didn't know the layout of the building.

"Some people did have to wait too long. But I believe the poll workers did the best they could with what they were given."

City Clerk Barbara Wardwell said there were long lines at times but she hadn't heard from anyone who had to wait more than 15 or 20 minutes.

She said some of the bottleneck was at the single door to the room used for voting. She said future consolidated polling would be in the larger North Wing room of the city-owned civic center, which has multiple entrance doors.

"We had lines, but most people were saying how fast they were going. Despite the lines, they were in and out in 15 minutes," Wardwell said Wednesday. "We will have it in the North Wing next time, in a bigger room, with a double door. We had no choice but to be in the room we were in. I booked it. Having a single-door entrance definitely was a hindrance. You could only fit one person through the door at a time.

"You learn from your mistakes."

Wardwell said the City Council will likely discuss the consolidated polls, how they went and whether to have them again in the future. She said consolidating the polls saves staff time and, thus, money -- an estimated drop from about $6,500 to $3,000 to $3,500 per election.

Councilor David Rollins, who was re-elected to his at-large seat Tuesday, was also at the polls much of Election Day.

"It went smoothly all day until the after-work, after-supper rush," Rollins said Wednesday. "There was a bigger-than-could-be-handled surge from around 6:30 to 7:30. I know some people got impatient. But the poll workers were very concerned and tried to accommodate everybody."

Rollins said he favors voting being in the traditional locations within each of the city's voting wards, but understands the financial benefits of consolidating the polls.

"Personally, I favor the neighborhood voting tradition," he said. "But I understand, especially in these economic times, consolidated polls can be more cost-effective. I think it's a budget reality. Consolidated polling is here to stay."

Wardwell said about 7,080 residents voted in the elections, out of about 14,650 registered voters.

In results unavailable Tuesday night, Wardwell said Jane Dennison was elected as a write-in candidate to an at-large seat on the Augusta Board of Education.

Portland Press Herald Staff Writer Ann Kim contributed to this report.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com