INDIANAPOLIS -- About 150 workers failed to be at Marion County polling places for at least part of Tuesday's primary election, delaying voting at some sites for hours and preventing any voting at five precincts.

About the same number of inspectors also failed to collect election materials -- including ballots and other supplies -- on the night before, said Marion County Clerk Beth White, who was overseeing her first election.

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Tuesday's Primary: See Results

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White said she believed fewer than 100 of the county's 917 precincts failed to open as scheduled at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Many of the delayed precincts opened late -- after noon in a few cases -- but five precincts never opened when voting ended at 6 p.m.

White said the county's election board did not ask a court to extend voting hours because, in part, the county's voting machines weren't programmed to operate past 6 p.m.

She said accepted blame for many of the delays, which primarily were in southern Marion County.

"One voter who has not been able to vote is one too many," White said. "I know that, and I take responsibility for that. No one is more frustrated about that than I am."

In the last few elections, Democrats bitterly criticized the previous county clerk, Republican Doris Anne Sadler, when polls didn't open or machines didn't work properly.

With White, a Democrat, at the helm, many of the same problems are evident. In some cases, keys used to unlock voting machines were not delivered.

Republicans called for an investigation.

"This is a travesty. We absolutely should have an investigation into Beth White -- (Indianapolis Mayor) Bart Peterson's handpicked person, who is now the county clerk -- (and) her absolute lack of leadership and failure to plan," said Tom John, chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.

Precinct workers and voters were frustrated by Tuesday's problems.

"We have precincts that didn't open on time. Poll workers were never assigned locations," said Jennifer Ping, vice-chair of the Marion County GOP. "Voters were disenfranchised by not being able to vote at 6 o'clock. I view that as gross incompetence on our new clerk's part."

Peterson, a Democrat, said November's election would be better.

"I don't run elections. I don't know how exactly it all works, but I'll tell you this: They'll learn from what went wrong today, and I think there will be a different result in the fall," Peterson said.

Hakim-Shabazz: Court Challenges Are Possible

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, 6News political contributor and WXNT (1430 AM) radio show host, said some candidates might be tempted to challenge Tuesday's election results.

"Beth White says she's sorry. She may get the opportunity to say that in court," Hakim-Shabazz said. "If you're a candidate who lost today ... in a place where the precincts didn't open at all or didn't open until 3 p.m., you are going to take them to court to have that election contested."

He said voters, too, might think about going to court.

"If you are a voter who didn't get to vote, you may end up going to federal court and say your civil rights were violated ... because you didn't get a chance to vote," he said. "The clerk may have to take the (witness) stand if somebody decides to take the clerk to court."

Hakim-Shabazz said Tuesday wasn't a banner day for the county's election process.

"Think of Marion County's election system as a ship, and what happened today was an iceberg. It was just that bad," he said.