Voters sheltered in polling places

Tuesday's storm didn't just produce a tornado that downed trees and power lines and caused community members to take shelter in their basements. Because the storm occurred on election night, it also meant that the Hancock County Board of Elections had to quickly take action to keep voters and poll workers safe. "Everybody took cover," Jody O'Brien, director of the board, said Wednesday. O'Brien said those who had finished voting could remain and take shelter, but it was up to them if they wished to leave their polling place. Anyone coming in the door could also take shelter but could not immediately vote, as the board had suspended voting for the duration of the storm. O'Brien stressed that poll workers did not force anyone to stay, or prevent anyone from entering their polling place. Normally, O'Brien said, the protocol would be to call the Ohio secretary of state's office and ask what to do. "But it happened so quickly" in this case that the local board of elections made the decision. O'Brien said her office advised people to take shelter and to stay away from windows. Based on where people vote, people took shelter in basements, restrooms or kitchen areas. She pointed out that the county's 27 polling places stretch from near Bluffton to Fostoria, and the storm didn't hit everywhere at the same time. So, although her team quickly began calling around, by the time they contacted some of the poll workers in the southern part of Hancock County, they were reporting that the storm had passed The staff at the elections office itself went into the building's basement, except for O'Brien and deputy director Lori Miller, who went into the board room. O'Brien said when voting resumed again depended on the location, but no location had to suspend voting for more than 20 to 30 minutes, and, in many cases, it was less. She said that the counting of votes was not delayed by the storm, as things had returned to normal by later in the evening. Arthurs: 419-427-8494