From flash cards published in April by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Each card presents a hypothetical emergency scenario for officials and poll workers to consider ahead of the 2026 election.
You are driving ballots and critical election materials back to the election office after polls close, but a train has stopped on the tracks, blocking your only route to the office.
A person with what looks like a homemade media badge enters your voting location and insists on filming for a story they are doing about voting on their blog.
On the deadline day for mail-ballot return, an ice storm coats ballot drop boxes in two inches of ice, blocking deposit slots for voters and freezing locks so officials cannot open them.
A sudden downpour leaves voters entering your location soaking wet. One wet voter drips water on the accessible voting device, creating an electrical short. You can’t get the device to turn back on.
Despite being urged not to have beverages at their station, another poll worker has spilled coffee on unissued ballots. There are no usable ballots for one precinct.
A powerful tsunami causes widespread damage on the West Coast. Downstream impacts on the paper supply chain are significant. Your envelope-and-ballot vendor isn’t sure when they’ll be able to fill orders.
A volcano erupts, blanketing your region in ash that seeps into buildings. You think your office is cleaned up, but on Election Day you discover that the ash is interfering with ballot scanners.
You pick up supplies and ballots on Election Eve and leave them locked in your car. When you head out on election morning, you discover your car has been mistakenly repossessed.
During logic-and-accuracy testing, your area experiences a strong electromagnetic pulse that damages the equipment being tested, fries the election-management system, and knocks out the security system.
A semitruck loaded with 250,000 aggressive bees crashes just outside your voting location. Bees are everywhere.