Austin, Texas: Fire Alarm Pauses Voting at UT Texas Union, Police Seek Person Who Pulled It

Voting at the Texas Union at the University of Texas at Austin stopped for about 10 minutes on Tuesday morning after someone pulled a fire alarm inside the building, which is serving as an Election Day polling place.

The University of Texas Police Department said it is investigating two incidents on Tuesday morning in which the fire alarm was activated at the Texas Union. The alarm caused a brief delay to voting at the location, and operations resumed after about a 10 minute delay, the department said.

Police ask for help identifying a person of interest

Campus police have released an image of a person whom witnesses identified as the possible suspect in the incidents. The department said the person of interest is not believed to be affiliated with the University of Texas.

Police are investigating the alarms as a criminal offense. Anyone with information on the identity of the person can contact the department at [email protected]. Anyone who sees the person is asked to contact UTPD dispatch at 512-471-4441, option 9.

Voting resumed at a busy campus site

The Texas Union is one of the best known polling places in Travis County, and it serves students and other voters in the middle of the UT campus. Polls across Texas are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, and voters in line at closing time can still cast a ballot.

The pause in Austin was one of several Election Day disruptions reported around the country on Tuesday, as voters decided the midterm elections. At the top of the Texas ballot, Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico are contesting the U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn, and Gov. Greg Abbott faces Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

No injuries were reported in the Texas Union incidents in the accounts published on Tuesday, and police gave no indication that ballots cast at the site were affected. Voting at the location continued after the short pause.

A busy site in a high turnout election

Texas voters cast more than 7.7 million ballots before Election Day, according to statewide turnout figures from the secretary of state office, USA Today reported. Campus polling places at the University of Texas draw students and neighborhood voters through the day, and a pause at a site that busy can back up a line quickly, even when the pause lasts only about 10 minutes.