Floods and storms have forced last-minute polling-place changes and emergency voting rules in five states as Americans vote on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. If you live in one of the areas below, check before you travel: your usual polling place may have moved.
Florida: Eight Brevard County Precincts Moved
Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic announced on Monday evening that eight precincts in Melbourne and Palm Bay have moved because of extreme flooding, under the state’s fall-flooding emergency order, Executive Order 26-227. The county warned more changes are possible.
- Precincts 307, 512 and 525, which voted at Max K. Rodes Park Community Center, and Precinct 309, from the Veterans Memorial Complex, now vote at New Shiloh Christian Center, 3900 Sarno Road, Melbourne.
- Precinct 306, from the Eddie Lee Taylor Sr. Community Center, and Precincts 323 and 509, from the Front Street Civic Center, now vote at the Joseph N. Davis Community Center, 2547 Bruce D. Buggs Street, Melbourne.
- Precinct 517, from Faith Baptist Church of Palm Bay, now votes at Palm Bay City Hall Council Chambers, 120 Malabar Road SE.
In Martin County, voters assigned to Grace Presbyterian Church in Stuart now vote at the Martin County Supervisor of Elections Office, 135 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Stuart, according to the Florida Department of State. Brevard voters can confirm their site at VoteBrevard.gov.
Colorado: Pagosa Springs Voter Center and Drop Box Closed
In Archuleta County, the Ross Aragon Community Center voter center and the Pagosa Springs Town Hall ballot drop box are closed because of flood risk, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office said. Go instead to the Archuleta County Courthouse voter center, 109 Harmon Park Drive, Pagosa Springs; the joint La Plata–Archuleta voter center at Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield; or the staffed mobile drop box in the parking lot at 10 Solomon Drive, Pagosa Springs. All are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, as are the county Election Office and the Extension Office.
Flood-affected Colorado voters who have not yet voted can request a replacement ballot at any voter center in the state. Inside your home county, you receive your full ballot; outside it, statewide races only. Mail ballots may be returned to any drop box or voter center in Colorado by 7 p.m., and voters kept home by flooding can request an emergency ballot through the Secretary of State’s website.
Utah: Electronic Ballots for San Juan County
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson issued an emergency election order on Monday allowing San Juan County voters who cannot reasonably travel to a polling place or drop box on Election Day to request and return their ballots electronically.
Arizona: Two Maricopa Vote Centers Lost Power, Then Reopened
Two Maricopa County vote centers, at Paradise Valley Community College and Sunset Canyon School, lost power on Monday morning and later reopened. Poll workers stayed on site, and voters could still drop off ballots during the outage, Elections Director Scott Jarrett said. Gov. Katie Hobbs declared a statewide emergency on Monday, and Maricopa County declared a local emergency for unincorporated areas through 6 a.m. on November 6. In the Rio Verde Foothills, county officials said flooded rural roads would be passable by the end of Monday.
Oklahoma: One Polling Place Changed in Cimarron County
Storm damage on Sunday night forced a polling-place change in Cimarron County, State Election Board spokesperson Misha Mohr said. The board is posting emergency polling-place changes on its website, and signs will direct voters at any changed site. Oklahoma polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The advice from officials in every affected state is the same: check your polling place before you leave home — with your county elections office in Florida and Utah, the Secretary of State’s voter information page in Colorado, the State Election Board in Oklahoma, and Maricopa County Elections in Arizona.
