So I'm Creating A Scandal

A little while ago, the Alderman of the ward my mom lives in passed away. Today her ward held a special election to pick a new alderperson. My mom is an election judge, and she started working at 5 a.m. Around 9 a.m. a deputy showed up and said, "Haven't they evacuated you yet?"
The voting place is part of a school, and there had been a spill in the chemistry lab. The spill was mercury, but nobody told the election judges that. No one came to close the voting and move it elsewhere. There was no need, because the spill was way at the other end of the (quite large) school.

So they carried on. A woman came in and said, "the cops said the polls were closed, but I didn't believe them. So I came in anyway."
Mom went outside to find out if this were true, and found several police officers turning away voters. Mom assured them that the polls were open and voting was definately taking place; and the cops stopped turning people away. They were soon replaced by several fire trucks, which blocked off several streets.

To be fair, they probably thought they were doing the best thing. I'm sure they had the safety of the voters in mind. However, if the school was unsafe; the election judges would have packed everything up and moved it outside or something.
93 voters braved the fire trucks, police officers and news vans, and cast their vote for a new alderperson.

Good for them.