Power loss impacts wait time at polling sites

Casting a vote in Monroe County was anything but simple Tuesday.\nAbout 11:30 a.m., voters in Bloomington, Ellettsville and the surrounding areas experienced a short power outage that might have stemmed from an accident on Highway 45/46, near the Monroe County line.\nJessica White, chief deputy clerk for the Monroe County Circuit Court, said the outage primarily affected those who voted in the Richland and Bean Blossom Township areas.\nFrank Cecil, dispatcher for the Owen County Sheriff's Department, said the only information he could provide was that the accident involved a semi-trailer and several other vehicles. No injuries were sustained.\nHowever, Cinergy Spokeswoman Angeline Protogere said a cable also failed in the Ellettsville area around 12:57 p.m., affecting more than 1,200 Cinergy customers in Monroe County.\nAlthough Cinergy worked to have the cable restored by 3:19 p.m., White said the Monroe County voting polls that were without power used a Bloomington Fire Department backup generator.\n"We had electricity up fairly quickly," she said. "Initially, we panicked a little, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been."\nWhite said voters waited in long lines throughout the day, despite the power outage.\n"We have dedicated voters," she said. "In fact, this might have been the biggest Monroe County turnout we have ever seen"