Tennessee polling sites without power forced to use paper ballots

Several polling locations in eastern Tennessee were forced to use paper ballots on Tuesday amid a power outage that affected parts of the state on Election Day.

CBS News affiliate WVLT reported that several locations near Knoxville were without power as a result of storms that passed over the area early in the day.

{mosads}An official at the Sevier County Election Commission told the CBS station that several locations were experiencing problems and had technicians on-site dealing with issues.

One location, Cedar Bluff Middle School in Knoxville, was without power and saw its backup generator fail, forcing election officials to distribute paper ballots and voters to complete them outside in the sunlight, according to CNN.

“We’re voting with paper ballots,” Knox County elections administrator Cliff Rodgers told CNN.

A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to The Hill that power outages were being monitored in Tennessee, but that the storms had not “really disrupted voting in a lot of cases” due to the availability of paper ballots.

Tennessee is the site of a major Senate race, where Republicans and Democrats are battling over the seat held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R). The race between Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) and former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) is close, though Blackburn holds an edge in most polling.

An Emerson College poll of the race late last month found Blackburn with an 8-point lead over her Democratic opponent.