An SUV crashed into a polling location in Tipp City, Ohio, temporarily disrupting voters Tuesday morning.
Police were dispatched to St. John the Baptist Church on South Hyatt Street around 9 a.m., WHIO TV7 reported.
A scary situation, but the good news is everyone is ok, voting never stopped, and this voter was still able to cast her ballot.
Thanks to everyone at the @MiamiOHBOE for their quick work in handling a challenging situation. pic.twitter.com/TCAYw79pCY
— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) November 3, 2020
The driver accidentally hit the gas pedal as opposed to the break while trying to park the SUV. Medics were called to the scene to check on the woman, but no injuries were reported, police said.
No one was hurt during the incident.
WDTN reported that polling resumed after a structural engineer examined the building and deemed it structurally sound.
More polling troubles in Ohio
Ohio is considered one of the “Rust Belt” swing states in this year’s contentious presidential election, a target for both incumbent President Donald Trump and his opponent, Democrat candidate Joe Biden.
This isn’t the first case of polling issues that Ohio has faced on election morning. Franklin, Ohio’s most populous county, was forced to switch to paper poll books after technical difficulties occurred, Fox News reported.
Officials said their electronic check-in system was not fully updated with new data, causing the necessary shift to the antiquated voting method. Residents were told to prepare for long lines and wait times as a result.
According to Fox News, the Secretary of State suggested that Franklin County Board of Elections could not upload all early in-person voting data to the check-in system in time for election morning, but assured voters that poll workers are trained on paper poll books.
“Secretary LaRose directed every board of elections to have paper pollbooks as a contingency plan to ensure the integrity of the system and so no voter may vote twice. It will not impact the security of today’s vote,” a spokesperson for he Ohio Secretary of State posted on Twitter. “It’s important to note that this does NOT impact voting machines in any way, and only modifies how voters are checked in.”
Secretary LaRose directed every board of elections to have paper pollbooks as a contingency plan to ensure the integrity of the system and so no voter may vote twice. It will not impact the security or accuracy of today’s vote. 2/3
— Ohio Secretary of State Comms Team (@SecLaRoseComms) November 3, 2020
Former President Barack Obama carried the critical swing state in both 2008 and 2012, but in 2016, President Trump flipped Ohio from blue to red. Trump’s then-opponent Hillary Clinton won just 43 percent of the vote.
According to FiveThirtyEight, as of 11 a.m. on election morning, Trump leads in Ohio at 47.5 percent and Biden at 46.8 percent. Each candidate is hoping to win Ohio’s 18 electoral votes, paving their way to the White House.
