A Superior Court judge has ordered that a Portland polling place affected by a street closure and power outage Tuesday evening stay open until 9:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the usual closing time.
Access to the polls at the Italian Heritage Center on 40 Westland Avenue, just off outer Congress Street. was blocked when police shut down the street after a car struck a utility pole. Voters trying to reach the polling place had to be rerouted to an alternate entrance through the parking lot of a nearby Shaw’s supermarket.
After consultations with the Secretary of State’s office and lawyers for political parties, Justice Thomas Warren ordered the Italian Heritage Center polls to remain open until 9:30 p.m., according to a tweet by Zach Heiden, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.
The center is the polling place for Portland Precinct 3-2, which includes parts of Senate District 28 and House districts 37 and 41, with 5,028 registered voters as of Sept. 28, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
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