Power companies in Arkansas getting ready for Election Day

Little Rock, Arkansas – Many individuals in Arkansas are still waiting to cast their ballots on election day, even though early voting is already in progress.

Having to vote in the dark is an idea that undoubtedly hasn’t occurred to many of us. This election season, record numbers of individuals have expressed a desire to vote at polling places, raising concerns about grid overload.

Heather Kendrick, an Entergy Arkansas Communications Specialist, described how their workers have been anticipating and preparing for that.

“We’ve done all of the proactive checks ahead of time, and we have our servicemen and our line workers available and ready to respond if needed,” said Kendrick.

She added that their organization is preparing to station staff in several locations on standby in case of an emergency, treating Election Day similarly to severe weather.

“There will be a lot of activity on election day. “We have made sure that we are in the best proactive position that we can be in case of any power outages or anything like that,” she said, adding that there will be additional traffic and people entering and leaving these polling places.

Entergy stated that while they don’t expect any problems, it’s wise to be preventative.

For instance, we want to ensure that all of our staff are available throughout our service area in case a vehicle or automobile strikes a power pole. In order for us to promptly and safely restore electricity in the event that it were to go out at a polling station,” Kendrick stated.

Amanda Dickens, the election coordinator for Pulaski County, described how they had previously encountered power outages and are now ready with safety precautions for their poll workers.

“As a precaution, the poll workers do carry flashlights in their equipment. If necessary, we could also bring out the backup lamps we have up here to the areas,” Dickens continued.

Additionally, a plan is in place for outages that can cause entire polling places to close.

“If it’s a really bad situation and they’re going to be without power for the rest of the day, we can then take that polling place and combine it with the next closest polling place and get the word out to the voters,” Dickens stated.

In the event of an emergency, poll staff will be on hand to assist. Voters will use paper ballots on election day.