DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Election officials sought shelter in Pottawattamie County after a severe storm interrupted voting in a quarter of the western Iowa county’s polling places.  Auditor Mary Jo Drake says at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, poll workers and voters in 10 of the county’s 40 precincts were forced to seek shelter in the buildings where voting was taking place. Drake says several polling places were “right in the eye of the storm.” She says elections officials suspended voting but returned to normal after the storm passed.

No polling places had lost power, but Drake says, “It’s nasty here. It’s as black as the ace of spades.”  Stormy weather also prompted election officials in neighboring Montgomery County to close and evacuate all polls from 5:40 p.m. to 6:10 p.m.