HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Voting precincts in Henrico, Franklin, and Loudoun counties faced some technical difficulties Tuesday morning as power outages caused a disturbance in voters' ability to cast their ballots for the primary election.
"This is not a security concern…it is being resolved," Christopher Piper, the Department of Elections Commissioner, said.
Provisional ballots were provided while the computer systems were being brought back online.
At 5:20 a.m. Antioch Baptist Church, a Henrico County polling site, experienced a power outage. There were concerns with the limitations of using a full-size generator because the church's primary and neutral wires were inoperative.
The second Henrico County polling to lose power was at Glen Allen High School at 6:14 a.m. A school custodian began assisting with restoring the electronic systems as Dominion Energy responded to the school.
Officials in Franklin County found a snake on the transformer at the Scruggs Volunteer Fire Department and Community Center. The snake tripped a fuse causing the power to go out at 5:25 a.m.
A tree that fell on the Middleburg Precinct distribution line in Loudoun County left the site without power at 7:17 a.m.
In Loudoun, a second power outage was reported at Roundhill Elementary School at 9:14 a.m.
By 10:30 a.m., all of the sites were restored to power, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Piper said he hoped the electrical problems did not impact the majority of voters. He said he believed that, thus far, there had been a lower in-person voter turnout and a higher number of people submitting their vote through absentee ballots.
