Early voting has been pushed by political parties and activist groups — some partisan, some not as a way to avoid long lines on Election Day. More than 1,000 people showed up during the four days of satellite stations on campus last week.

It should have been more than 1,100.

As the clock struck 3 p.m. last Thursday, election officials packed up and left town, turning away more than 100 people who were standing in line in front of Parks Library without giving them the chance to vote.

But don’t blame the poll workers.

They were only following the directions of Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman, who has the responsibility of making sure that Iowa’s election laws are obeyed.

Mosiman told the poll workers to close at 3 p.m., no matter how many people were still in line.

That order is a direct violation of Iowa law, which requires officials to close “after everyone has voted who arrived before the time established to close a station.” That means every one of those 100 people who went home Thursday afternoon should have been allowed to vote — as long as they were in line at 3 p.m.

And what does Mosiman do? She blames the New Voters Project, those relentless people in the red shirts who have abandoned classes and social lives to get young people — the most ignored, most apathetic age group — registered to vote.

“In a way, the New Voters Project brought this on themselves,” Mosiman said on Thursday. “The activists had a goal of their own, and they were trying to draw people in up to the very last minute.”

What?!

As commissioner of elections, Mosiman should have the same goal that “the activists” have — getting people to the polls and encouraging them to vote. She should be ecstatic, not furious, that people were scrambling into line up to the strike of 3 p.m. — it means that more young people care about voting.

Mosiman has also said that the stations didn’t have enough ballots and that she thought the rules about poll closing times did not apply to satellite stations.

If it was a mistake, fine, then say so. Admit that you misunderstood one section of the Iowa law and forgot about another — that section that says election officials should follow the rules, but err on the side of letting too many people vote. But take responsibility for your actions.

But don’t blame the New Voters Project — a nonpartisan organization — for encouraging young people to participate in democracy.

That should, after all, be your job.

— Lucas Grundmeier did not contribute to this editorial discussion.