The voting problems some students faced last week have now become challenges to solve for future elections.

Long lines and precinct misdirection were only a few of the nuisances students complained about on Election Day. Some students blamed the confusion on a state law that requires addresses on driver’s licenses match voter registration cards.

It took Amy Eisenberg four and a half hours to vote.

“I filled out one of those forms so my license would match the place I live,” said Eisenberg, a biology junior. “When I didn’t receive (a registration card), I got an e-mail from (Gretchen) Whitmer, saying where I should go to vote.”

Eisenberg said after an afternoon of being bounced from East Lansing precinct to precinct, she was finally able to vote.

“City Hall seemed disorganized,” she said. “Someone should have just told me where to go.”

While Eisenberg did get to vote, students like Craig Suchodolski, an advertising junior, did not.

“I changed my address to where I live off campus, and I thought I was all set,” he said. “When I went to City Hall to ask where to vote, they said I wasn’t registered.

“They were no help whatsoever.”

But East Lansing City Clerk Sue Donnell said the city worked hard to get registrations sorted.

“We spent an immense amount of time mailing out registration forms,” she said. “I couldn’t keep up with it after awhile.”

Donnell said students were registering their wrong address, causing delays in the system.

While many found fault with the city, Mark Grebner, a Democratic Ingham County Commissioner, said that the problems are not solely there.

“East Lansing city government is pretty cooperative,” Grebner said. “Things may have been done better, and they know that.

“I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all their fault.”

Instead, Grebner, who also runs Practical Political Consulting in East Lansing, put much of the blame on the state’s Qualified Voter File, calling it “pretty crummy as lists go.”

Grebner claimed state officials took shortcuts in updating the voter file for this election, updating voter registrations to match driver’s licenses without notifying voters.

“I think they have found ways that are convenient - a shortcut to make their lives easier,” he said.

Some precincts had incorrect voter information or missing names in the statewide voter file, Grebner said.

Officials from the Secretary of State could not be reached for comment.

Grebner, who compiles voter lists for his political consulting firm, hopes to work with city and state officials to fix the problems that plagued Election Day.

“In East Lansing, I want to make a bunch of changes,” he said.

Among these changes include increasing the amount of staff at precincts and training them better, implementing clearer procedures, eliminating lines at the polls, and answering all phone calls immediately.

“Each of these things needs to be addressed better,” Grebner said.

Rachel Wright can be reached at wrightr9@msu.edu.