SANTA FE, N.M., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Early voting in New Mexico was temporarily disrupted when a voter-registration computer system was made inaccessible due to an expired license, officials said.
The secretary of state's office, responsible for maintaining the license, said the Tuesday night problem was fixed within an hour.
But most polls also closed within that same hour and some county clerks expressed frustration and concern that voters had been turned away less than a week before Tuesday's general election.
"We had voters in line that we couldn't process," Santa Fe Deputy County Clerk Denise Lamb told the Albuquerque Journal. "This is just totally unacceptable."
She said the secretary of state's office had been alerted to the licensing issue several months ago. She also said a similar issue occurred two years ago, during the 2008 general election.
Although voting resumed, county officials said the computer problems continued to delay the processing of various election reports.
At least four counties -- Dona Ana, Santa Fe, San Juan and Los Alamos -- were affected by the software issue.
New Mexico's early in-person voting for the general election ends Saturday.
