Notwithstanding § 12-2-3, the county auditor may, upon request of the superintendent of an election precinct, if an emergency exists by reason of mechanical failure of a voting machine or an unanticipated shortage of ballots or like unforeseen event warrants it, extend the polling hours for that precinct until the emergency situation has been resolved. If the emergency situation is not resolved within two hours, except for a primary or general election, the polling place shall remain closed for one week and reopen at the time of the closure of the polling place.

Source: SL 1974, ch 122; SL 1997, ch 76, § 1; SL 2014, ch 70, § 1, eff. Feb. 19, 2014.