FOX CROSSING (NBC 26) — Voters in Fox Crossing cast their ballots at a temporary polling place Tuesday after a July tornado left the community center ripped open and unusable.
The Pentecostals of the Fox Cities Church, already the polling place for four Fox Crossing wards, took on three more wards after the community center was destroyed. Election officials split the church in half to keep traffic flowing and accessible.
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For Thresa Schaefer, a Fox Crossing voter in the Palisades neighborhood, the damage hit close to home.
"We survived, our house survived but our neighborhood is not good, not good at all, we live four blocks from the fire department that got destroyed, the community center so we're here to vote," Schaefer said.
Despite her polling place being destroyed, Schaefer said nearly nothing could stop her from casting her vote.
"I came to vote, I believe everyone should vote, to make a difference in this world, you have to pay attention to what's going on," Schaefer said.
Christa Vanderheiden, the chief election inspector, said Tuesday's primary is more like a test run for November.
"We anticipate an extended amount of time for that community center to get up and running again, so we are definitely making sure we can accommodate the larger elections, wards 10 through 12 here at this polling place," Vanderheiden said.
Vanderheiden said voting moved steadily and smoothly throughout the day, giving election officials confidence the site can handle even higher turnouts later this year.
Fox Crossing leaders say there is still no firm timeline for repairs to the community center after the tornado damage — meaning the church could continue serving as a polling place through 2027.
