SIERRA VISTA — There was a dearth of presidential election signs to be found on Super Tuesday.

In Sierra Vista, there were GOP signs, a few here and there for Ron Paul and some for Mitt Romney. But none were seen for Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and none for any of the two Democrats left in that party’s race — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. However, the normal candidate campaign clutter that usually fills street corners and yards was not a sign of voters being unconcerned. According to Cochise County election officials, balloting in the Republican and Democratic presidential preference was heavy.

Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano moved up Arizona’s presidential primary from Feb. 26 to Feb. 5 to join nearly two dozen other states and one U.S. territory in making their choices for the Republican or Democratic candidates for president. It put Arizona right in the middle of a presidential fight for delegates in both parties.

Long lines in Sierra Vista polling places and elsewhere in the county were signs of people wanting to vote, but there was confusion among residents as to who could cast a ballot.

Some independents showed up wanting to vote, but the rule for this year’s presidential preference election was that only registered party members could cast a vote, something that was talked about in various media outlets, including the Herald/Review, before Tuesday’s election. Independents can vote in the state primary.

And because the county’s number of polling places was reduced from 64 to 18, many people were confused as to where they were supposed to go to vote. Some, too, forgot they had to provide an ID with a photo on it or two other forms of identification without a picture.

Workers at more than one polling place called County Election Official Tom Schelling after people complained about the long waits to vote, leading election officials to add staff to at two locations in Sierra Vista and one in Benson.

For 83-year-old Melba Vickery, who had to stand in line for 90 minutes to vote at the First Christian Church on Highway 92 and Kings Way, the wait, some of it outside in the cold, was exhausting. That polling place eventually got more help, but that was after Vickery had left.

“There were 200 people lined up in a narrow hallway,” she said when she finally got inside.

By that time, she was so tired she collapsed in a chair, which led another women to ask her to go in front of her in the line.

There was only one register and one person going through the names and then checking another book, and she would only let one person at a time go up to vote, even though there were 10 booths, Vickery said.

At one time, a man, apparently another polling place worker, came into the hallway asking if anybody was an independent, but no one said they were.

“It was really slow,” Vickery said.

The Democrat finally got to cast her vote for Clinton, saying she believes the U.S. senator from New York is the less of two evils when it comes to her and Obama. However, Vickery said whomever is elected president will not have much power because she envisions a “50/50 Congress,” which will mean the president will be nothing more than a figurehead and will be unable to get things done.

Schelling said another area experiencing difficulty was at the Sierra Vista United Methodist Church. Only one person is available to check to see if people were authorized to vote at the polling place at 3225 S. St. Andrews Drive.

“We’re trying to find more people to help,” he said about midday on Tuesday.

Additional help eventually arrived at the polling location.

One man left the church’s area claiming he was in line for more than 20 minutes waiting to have his identification check, and the people inside the place, including the polling staff, were more interested in socializing instead of processing people.

“I’ve got to get to work,” he said, as he angrily walked away.

Others went into the polling place, only to almost leave immediately because the lines were too long.

For a pair of Republicans who left the Sierra Vista Methodist Church polling place, McCain got their votes.

Don Price, a retired Marine colonel, said that after spending more than 33 years in the Corps, he only sees McCain as having the material needed to be president.

Although he said Romney “was attractive to me because of his faith,” the fact that neither the former Massachusetts governor nor his five sons have served in America’s armed forces is something he finds unsettling.

“If (Cochise County) Sheriff (Larry) Dever’s son can serve, so can Romney’s,” he said.

When it comes to McCain not having as strong of an economic background, something Romney is making a campaign issue, Price said he believes the senator from Arizona will have the best cabinet and advisers around him to take care of any issue that may come up during his time in the White House.

For Donna Harris, McCain is her choice, too.

She sees his stand on immigration as being the right one, even though some believe the senator is too liberal in making deals with Democrats. McCain’s views on stem cell research also got her blessing.

“Romney doesn’t make it for me,” Harris said.

McCain has more experience in understanding how the U.S. government works, she said.

When it comes to the economy, she said, “I don’t think anyone can handle it, but I believe McCain will give it the best shot.”

Democrat Willie Pigott voted for Obama.

“He’s new, not a person with older thinking,” he said, meaning not a person’s age but on issues.

Saying he likes Obama’s health care proposal, Pigott said just he believes the Illinois Democrat will look to the future generations. Pigott said that is important to him because he is looking at what his grandchildren will need.

A retired soldier, Pigott said Obama also has his support in pulling America’s forces out of Iraq.

“I believe in national defense, but we shouldn’t be in Iraq,” he said.

While Pigott’s main support for Obama is his health care views, Karen Haley said she thinks Clinton has the best proposal, although she wants to see more details when it comes to addressing the nation’s health issues.

However, she admits it was a hard decision when it came to voting Tuesday because there is not much difference between Clinton and Obama.

But she gave the nod to Clinton on Tuesday.

To her, a Clinton and Obama ticket, with Obama on the ticket as vice president, is an unbeatable pair.

If Obama takes the nomination, and even if Clinton will not take the second place on the ticket, Haley said she could vote for him.

Waiting for the voters throughout the state were more names on the Republican and Democratic ballots.

The ballots have more than the nationally known candidates, because, Election Official Schelling said some Arizonans wanted their names on the presidential preference ballots too.

As an example, the Democratic ballot has 24 names, including some national candidates who have dropped out — Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich — as well as the two remaining, Obama and Clinton, and other people like Tish Haymer, Karl Krueger, whoever they are.

On the Democratic ballot, Obama’s name was fifth and Clinton’s 16th.

But Schelling’s main concern on Tuesday was ensuring all the voters got a chance to cast ballots, and he recognized there were many problems to overcome, especially the long lines.

People in line at 7 p.m., the official closing time for the polls, would be allowed to cast a ballot.

Perhaps Cochise County Recorder Christine Rhodes hit the cliché nail on the head when she told the Associated Press county residents “do not like to stand in long lines to vote.”