PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An electrical fire caused a power outage at a Germantown polling place, temporarily disrupting in-person voting on Election Day.
Poll workers said Germantown voters were showing up in large numbers up to that point, when they smelled something burning. That’s when the power went out.
“People were coming in, getting up to the machine and then it just conks out,” said Gigi Young with the Committee for a Better Neighborhood.
Firefighters responded and determined an electrical fire had knocked out the power.
Voting machines were not operational for just over an hour. Many voters left, though poll workers encouraged them to stay and fill out a provisional ballot.
“It looks like a good turn out, but we had a little problem here,” one voter, Tina, said. “We have a lot of people leaving and they may not even come back.”
Power was restored after 1 p.m. and voting machines were fully operational again.
KYW Newsradio reached out to the Office of the City Commissioners, but have yet to receive a response.
