APPLETON (NBC 26) — Saint Bernard Catholic Parish found a way to keep voters casting their ballots on location after they lost power during Tuesday's snowstorm.
- Saint Bernard Deacon gave voters battery operated reading lights to vote after power went out.
- "Voters can be assured that their vote will be counted," said Riley Vetterkind with the Wisconsin Elections Commission said a statement.
- Besides the state requiring paper ballots, there are other contingencies if the power goes out, including moving the polling location.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details for the web)
"I don't know the cause of it, I am certain we were out of power for four hours. I do know that."
When the lights went dark, Deacon Mike Eash had an idea to make sure voters could still see who they wanted to elect after the power went out.
"When we have evening services, those battery operated reading lights? They were in full use in the voting area last night."
At many polling locations, votes are done electronically. So when the power goes out, what happens to make sure every vote counts? The Wisconsin Election Commission says the state requires a paper record of every vote that is cast.
Besides the state requiring paper ballots, there are other contingencies if the power goes out, including moving the polling location.
While the church got everything to work on election night, Eash says in any other circumstance, a power outage wouldn't be much of an issue.
"For ministry, it is absolutely one-on-one," he emphasized. "Personal relationships, personal invitations, that's where it's at. And that rarely happens over electronically."
Riley Vetterkind with the Wisconsin Elections Commission released a statement that reads in part quote:
"Voters can be assured that their vote will be counted, even if their polling place experienced severe weather and/or a power outage."
To see election results in your neighborhood, visit the "election results" tab.
