For several seconds, nobody inside campaign headquarters spoke.
More than twenty polling centers.
Offline.
On Election Day. The implications were obvious. Millions of citizens had waited for this moment. Some had traveled for hours. Some had taken days off work. Some had stood in line since before sunrise.
And now someone was trying to stop them.
Elena was already moving. "Get me the National Election Commission."
She grabbed another phone.
"And connect me to every regional coordinator."
Around her, staff members rushed into action. Screens filled with maps.
Red warning indicators blinked across multiple provinces. The outages were spreading.
Not everywhere. Only in carefully selected districts. That detail immediately caught Clara's attention. She stared at the pattern appearing on her monitor.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"Wait." Nobody heard her. She looked again.
Then zoomed in. Her pulse quickened.
"Wait."
This time Elena heard.
