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To many voters, the only number that mattered election night was the amount of hours.

That's as in the number of hours many of them spent in line waiting to vote during Tuesday's Democratic nominating caucus.

But consider a few others.

• 7: The number of Rio Rancho precincts that were consolidated into one polling location Tuesday.

• 900: The estimated number of voters still waiting to vote at Rio Rancho High School when poll workers stopped accepting more people at 7 p.m.

• 9:08 p.m.: The time when the last Rio Rancho voter cast a ballot.

"In hindsight, we probably should have had two places," said James Moran, chairman of the Sandoval County Democratic Party. "But hindsight is always 20/20."

The plight of Rio Rancho voters emerged as the centerpiece of voting follies Tuesday sparked by such a high turnout that state Democratic Party officials were left stunned.

Some voters, particularly in the Albuquerque metro area, waited for hours to cast a ballot. Several polling places ran out of ballots. And some voters turned away at the sight of long lines.

While such massive voter interest could be considered a success for the New Mexico Democratic Party, which orchestrated the caucus, angry voters decried the voting process — many to the wrong places.

"I would like the voters of New Mexico to know that none of the 33 county clerks of New Mexico were responsible for any of this," said Denise Lamb, the Santa Fe County elections director who received angry complaints about ballot shortages and other issues. "People are used to the government running their elections. And so when there is anything that is like an election, as this caucus was, the natural assumption people make is that somehow the election officials are responsible for it."

Brian Colón, chairman of the state Democratic Party, shouldered much of the blame Wednesday when he apologized to voters who might not have cast a ballot.

"I have deep regrets for folks that were not able to wait in line and vote. I extend my sincere regrets and apologies," Colón said Wednesday morning. "With the Democratic Party of New Mexico, if it embarks upon hosting another caucus, we've got to do a better job. We're committed to that."

Colón a few weeks ago anticipated a turnout around 40,000 voters — far less than the 106,000 who cast ballots in the 2004 caucus.

While he amended that in recent days after seeing the massive crowds that greeted the two candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, on visits to the state, the numbers Tuesday reached a record of 152,000.

Record turnout has been a consistent phenomenon in other states that hosted Democratic nominating elections before Tuesday.

But party officials said voters here were electrified by the visits by the candidates and their high-profile surrogates. The campaigns' interest in the state shot from nominal to meteoric once Gov. Bill Richardson left the race early last month.

Expectations in Rio Rancho might have also been low. Despite being the state's third most populated city after Albuquerque and Las Cruces, Rio Rancho has only 16,435 registered Democrats.

Santa Fe, which has slightly fewer residents, by comparison has 30,897 Democrats who voted at 13 different caucus sites Tuesday.

Moran said party officials had expected a slightly higher turnout in Rio Rancho from the 1,600 people who cast ballots there in the 2004 caucus.

But rather than adding a second polling location, the state party instead opted for a larger venue — moving from the city's senior center to the more spacious Rio Rancho High School, Moran said.

The larger venue still wasn't big enough. Moran said about 3,000 people voted in Rio Rancho — nearly double that of 2004.

"I think we figured there would be a greater turnout, and we prepared for a greater turnout," Moran said. "But it was a far greater turnout than anybody expected."