Super Tuesday voting starts with tornadoes, virus fears

Deadly tornadoes knocked out polling places in Tennessee while fears over the coronavirus left some polling places in California and Texas short of election workers as Super Tuesday voting opened around the country.

Scattered reports of polling places opening late, machines malfunctioning or voter rolls being down marred voting in some of the 14 states voting Tuesday, but there were no reports of voters being unable to cast a ballot or security breaches.

Just hours before polls were set to open in Tennessee, tornadoes tore through parts of the state, destroying at least 140 buildings and killing at least 22 people. With more than a dozen polling sites in Nashville's Davidson County damaged, voters were sent to other locations, where some of them encountered long lines. Voting rights groups urged state officials to extend voting hours.

Voting got off to a slow start in Travis County, Texas, because many election workers did not show up, with some citing fears of contracting the coronavirus, according to the county clerk's office. The election office says it began implementing emergency procedures, with elections staff and other employees filling in as poll workers.

Another county, in California, addressed concerns over the coronavirus by sending bottles of hand sanitizer to polling places and asking poll workers to post fliers from the public health department on how to avoid spreading the virus.

Jesse Salinas, the chief elections official in Yolo County, just west of Sacramento, said a few poll workers backed out over concerns of getting the virus, but said most understand the threat is relatively low. The county had no reported cases as of Monday morning.

“We are hoping people remain calm and still participate in the election process,” Salinas said.

Super...