HOUSTON -- The caucus chaos Tuesday night prompted questions for the Harris County Democratic Party Wednesday.

Voters were angry and frustrated after confusion reigned at multiple polling locations across the Houston area.

“When I voted, I’ve been sitting out here since 5 p.m., and now it’s after 10 o’clock,” Bridgette Smith said.

Still, the head of the Harris County Democratic Party says he doesn’t think the voters were let down by the system.

“We knew that there was going to be significant turnout. We did not know it was going to be 400,000 people. We certainly didn’t think there would be 100,000 people showing up for the caucuses,” Chairman Gerry Birnberg said.

He says the shear number of voters is why the lines were so long and why, in some cases, supplies ran low.

He claims it wasn’t until Super Tuesday in February that it became clear this year’s presidential primary would mean something in Texas. 

So why not recruit more volunteers to staff the polling locations?

“They have to be trained, attend class. It’s a one-day gig. You don’t call the agency and say, hey, please send us 400 fully-trained election workers that we’re going to need in March,” Birnberg said.

Because of the pandemonium, many who came to participate in the caucus gave up and walked away.  Still, Birnberg believes the night was successful.

He said some additional staffers were brought in to help deal with the crowds, but in the end voters were wading in uncharted waters that no one knew how to navigate.