A power outage in Antioch caused a minor delay Saturday at the Nashville Public Library Southeast Branch voting center, but the voting process was not interrupted, according to election officials on site and Metro Councilwoman Joy Styles.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A power outage in Antioch caused a minor delay Saturday at the Nashville Public Library Southeast Branch voting center, but the voting process was not interrupted, according to election officials on site and Metro Councilwoman Joy Styles.
“We did have a stopgap for a little while with paper ballots, and then they were still able to use the machines. That is the good news,” said Styles.
Voting continued throughout the power outage, which was resolved by the early evening hours on Saturday, Oct. 19, according to officials. Most voters said the process went smoothly for them after waiting in line for about 45 minutes, even during the outage, with people celebrating first-time voters.
However, registered voter Tyler Merritt told News 2 the outage caused some confusion over what documents to bring to the voting booth. Per Tennessee law, registered voters only need to bring a valid form of voter ID to cast their ballot.
Merritt said he switched his voting location to the Edmondson Pike Library because of the confusion he experienced.
“If the power has been out, and this voting experience is going to be different than any other voting experience in Nashville, Tennessee, we need to know this,” he said.
As of Friday, Oct. 18, a total of 558,410 people have voted early in Tennessee, which is 10.61% lower compared to this time in the 2020 election, according to Secretary of State’s office.
In Davidson County, specifically, election officials told News 2 that 56,388 people have voted early since Wednesday, Oct. 16.