A 12-vehicle crash caused some chaos at the polls on Tuesday evening.Due to the crash on the Combs-Hehl Bridge, a court ordered polls in Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties to remain open an hour later Tuesday—but the order was issued a half hour after polls had already closed.Watch this storyA press release from the Ohio press secretary reports that the delayed closing time was due to the traffic issues in the region.Results would not be interrupted, the release added.Some Ohio counties, including Butler County, had started posting results before the order was issued.Hamilton County Board of Elections officials said that the "impossible" order was given to them at 8:01 p.m. and many poll workers had already left. However, they said they tried their best.The BOE tried to mass contact the polls, but many people had left. Additionally, the polling machines are not designed to restart quickly after they are turned off. "It was shut down and you can’t re-light the equipment just like that. It doesn’t work that way," Democratic Chairman Tim Burke said.Additionally, it appears there was no court hearing and no one from the Hamilton County Board of Elections was present to argue on behalf of the county.The court issued "an order that folks had to know we weren’t going to get until we were in violation of the order," Burke said. "And we had three lawyers on the board worried about, are we in contempt of federal court, which we try not to be." Anyone who did vote after 7:30 p.m. voted on a provisional ballot.

A 12-vehicle crash caused some chaos at the polls on Tuesday evening.



Due to the crash on the Combs-Hehl Bridge, a court ordered polls in Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties to remain open an hour later Tuesday—but the order was issued a half hour after polls had already closed.



Watch this story

A press release from the Ohio press secretary reports that the delayed closing time was due to the traffic issues in the region.



Results would not be interrupted, the release added.



Some Ohio counties, including Butler County, had started posting results before the order was issued.



Hamilton County Board of Elections officials said that the "impossible" order was given to them at 8:01 p.m. and many poll workers had already left. However, they said they tried their best.



The BOE tried to mass contact the polls, but many people had left. Additionally, the polling machines are not designed to restart quickly after they are turned off.

"It was shut down and you can’t re-light the equipment just like that. It doesn’t work that way," Democratic Chairman Tim Burke said.

Additionally, it appears there was no court hearing and no one from the Hamilton County Board of Elections was present to argue on behalf of the county.

The court issued "an order that folks had to know we weren’t going to get until we were in violation of the order," Burke said. "And we had three lawyers on the board worried about, are we in contempt of federal court, which we try not to be."

Anyone who did vote after 7:30 p.m. voted on a provisional ballot.