Merrill Reports More Polling Places Regaining Power

Four days before election day, somewhere between 90 and 95 polling places across the state still lack power, according to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

That’s an improvement over Wednesday’s count, when more than 100 polling places were dark.

“At this point, we are monitoring the situation very closely with our partners at the local level who must administer the presidential election on Tuesday November 6^th,” Merrill said in a statement. 

“We still have some polling places that lack electricity, and both power utilities have assured us they are working very hard to restore power to these locations as soon as possible.  At the local level, towns and cities are already executing their election preparation functions and backup plans where necessary for preparing voter lists and making sure the voting machines are ready to use next Tuesday.”

The bottom line: “We will be ready to vote next Tuesday no matter what, and the preferences would be not to move or consolidate any polling locations unless absolutely necessary.”

Another potential wrinkle in election planning emerged today when Merrill learned that some school districts that had planned to close on election day  will now remain open. That could create logistical issues and make it difficult for some voters to park, Merrill said.

Merrill’s staff is urging local election administrators to resolve any potential logistical issues; her office has also sent a message, through municipal and state emergency management officials, to school superintendents asking them to consider either not holding school on election day, going to a half day schedule or find other accommodations to share the space — “in the interest of conducting an orderly election.”