As the sun set over the palm trees on Escondido Road, the line outside the Graduate Community Center (GCC) stretched around the corner and down the street. Hundreds of voters stood outside, undeterred by delays that drove the wait time to over two hours.

Super Tuesday’s record turnout was on full display at the only polling place for the three precincts on campus. The GCC was overwhelmed by the strong turnout, and confusion reigned as students, faculty, staff and local residents faced different waiting times based on their place of residence.

“It’s frustrating,” said Al Duncan, a second-year graduate student in classics, who had to switch lines after initially waiting in the much longer queue of the largely undergraduate housing precinct. A Michigan resident, Duncan registered to vote in California after Michigan lost its Democratic delegates for scheduling its primary Jan. 15, a violation of party rules. But his effort to vote in California, he said, was far from easy.

“I appreciate their effort, but it seems to be a little space,” Duncan said of the polling center, next door to the 750 pub. “Everyone knew it would be a close race, well attended.”

Doug Karlson, a volunteer at the polling place, spent much of the evening answering questions about absentee ballots and shuffling voters between the three precinct lines. A veteran of five elections at the GCC, Karlson said the turnout was bigger than expected.

“We’ve done these mega-sites before,” Karlson said. “What is unusual is the great turnout.”

In other precincts throughout California, polling places struggled with an influx of independent voters who showed up wishing to vote in the presidential race, but instead received independent ballots without presidential candidates from either party.

That did not seem to be the case at Stanford, where poll workers worked to make sure voters who had previously declined to state party affiliation received Democratic ballots if requested.

A volunteer from the Obama campaign stood nearby the GCC, holding a sign to let independent voters know about their option to request a Democratic ballot. Independent voters have been an important bloc for the Illinois senator, and it was unclear whether the ballot trouble impacted his results in California.

Obama was the choice of a large percentage of voters interviewed by The Daily on Tuesday. The Illinois senator received nearly 75 percent of the Democratic vote in exit polls of over 200 voters.

Despite the long lines and confusion, students were upbeat about exercising their right to vote. On a campus assailed for its apathy, students expressed enthusiasm for the political mobilization brought by the primary.

“Seeing the excitement of the student body and the general campus has gotten me excited,” Alex Laube ‘09 said from the back of the line. “I’m happy to come out and do my part.”

“It’s our responsibility,” added Kellen Klein ‘09. “I’m excited to see campus come out and rally. It’s great to see that we have to wait in line.”

Samuel Franco ‘09 was less enthused. Waiting toward the back of the queue, Franco said he had made three previous attempts to vote but had run out of time on each occasion.

“It’s gotten worse every time, and my vote probably isn’t going to make a difference anyway,” said Franco, a New York resident who registered in California because he was interested in the ballot propositions. “It’s more of a symbolic thing.”

“I could have mailed something in [from New York],” he added. “Now I’m waiting in line again. Hopefully the fourth time is the charm.”

Despite reports that the GCC had run out of ballots, volunteers at the polling place said the precinct was well stocked. But according to an email sent to the Students for Barack Obama facebook group at 12:26 p.m. the GCC ran out of ballots and was providing paper sample ballots.

Elsewhere in the state, the large turnout strained efforts, and a judge ordered polls in Alameda County to remain open as late as 10 p.m. in precincts that had run out of Democratic ballots.

Master’s student Alexis Pribula was one of the last people to vote on campus. He cast a provisional ballot for Obama just before 9:20 p.m., more than an hour and a half after arriving.

“It was totally worth it,” the first time voter said.

After spending over two hours waiting and being shuffled between lines, Tariq West ‘09 said the polling process was “pretty unorganized.”

“It’s definitely inspiring to see this big student turnout,” he said, adding that the wait was “a small inconvenience.”

West wasn’t completely satisfied, however.

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to vote,” he said, “but they didn’t even give me a sticker.”

— James Hohmann and The Associated Press contributed to this report.