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What Happens If There Are Power Outages On Election Day?

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — On Election Day two years ago, wind gusts knocked out power for at least part of the day in four Northeast Ohio counties. What happens if there are more power outages on Election Day this year when voter turnout is expected to be higher than usual?

A poll worker helps a voter to a machine at Franklin County's early voting center in Columbus on Sunday, March 15. In-person voting for the March 17 primary was cancelled the next day and the mail-in deadline was extended to April 28.
A poll worker helps a voter to a machine at Franklin County’s early voting center in Columbus on Sunday, March 15. [Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau]
In 2018, counties were able to move voters to areas within polling places where there was electricity and some had generators on hand.

Paper ballots were used as a backup. But this year, with COVID voting in place, the protocols could be different.

Maggie Sheehan with Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office said there isn’t one statewide plan for power outages.

In an email, she said it was up to the 88 county boards of elections to come up with their own plans for how they’d handle an electrical outage on Election Day.