Will California's power shutdowns impact the election?

About 15,000 Californians could be without power starting Tuesday evening as Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) begins shutting off power to combat the threat of wildfires. The upcoming power outages are not expected to have any impact on election results in the affected areas.

PG&E announced the upcoming Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) on Sunday evening amid news that weather this week would result in critical fire conditions with low relative humidity, reduced vegetation moisture and gusty wind conditions in portions of the Bay Area. PSPS occur when strong winds threaten to cause tree damage to equipment that, under the right conditions, could start a fire. The current PSPS will affect 17 counties and three tribal areas.

The power cuts will begin at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday at the earliest. Two polling places — the Calpine Geothermal Visitor Center in Lake County and Lakeside Elementary School in Los Gatos — fall within the scope of the shutdowns.

PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said Newsweek that voting will not be affected, as closings at the polling stations are only expected after the polling stations close at 8 p.m. Smith said there are no vote centers in the restricted areas, so vote counts will not be affected or delayed. However, all 48 tabulation centers and the two polling stations are equipped with an emergency generator.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are conducting temporary power generation at both locations,” said a press release about the event.

Smith added that if additional polling locations are added to the PSPS area due to a change in the forecast, officials would assess the situation and provide backup power as needed.

More than 7.6 million Californians have already voted via early voting or absentee ballots, NBC News reported.

The outages could last until early Friday morning. The planned outages come amid a series of warnings issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) office in San Francisco on Monday, warning of high winds and low humidity.

“The combination of the above winds and moisture will cause fires to show great resistance to control, thereby creating a dangerous and extreme wildfire environment,” the warning said. “Firefighters and residents are urged to keep up to date with the weather forecast for the next few days.”

The warning added that despite recent rain, conditions “will result in rapid hardening of fuels.”

“The combination of strong winds and low humidity will cause the fire to rapidly increase in size and intensity,” the warning said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended and may be prohibited in some areas.”

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California has already battled nearly 7,300 wildfires this year, which have contributed to the burning of over a million acres. Typically, wildfire season in California lasts until October or November.