A day before the US presidential elections, officials in New York and New Jersey, the two worst hit states by hurricane Sandy, were scrambling to put in place alternate voting sites to enable millions disrupted by the storm to cast their ballot.
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said election officials were grappling with ‘real problems’ amid continued power outages, a partially restored public transport system and freezing temperatures that made voting the last of the concerns of residents impacted by Sandy. Due to the damage caused to polling stations in the wake of Sandy, thousand of registered voters in New York will be forced to go to polling sites different from the one they had been assigned to, Bloomberg said.
Local elections officials are having ‘real problems and we have got to make sure that everybody can vote,’ Bloomberg told reporters here on Sunday. ‘The Board of Elections tells us that about 143,000 voters in all five boroughs will be assigned to poll sites different from their usual site. ‘Our NYC Service volunteers are letting many New Yorkers know about their polling places,’ he said.
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said election officials were grappling with ‘real problems’ amid continued power outages, a partially restored public transport system and freezing temperatures that made voting the last of the concerns of residents impacted by Sandy. Due to the damage caused to polling stations in the wake of Sandy, thousand of registered voters in New York will be forced to go to polling sites different from the one they had been assigned to, Bloomberg said.
Local elections officials are having ‘real problems and we have got to make sure that everybody can vote,’ Bloomberg told reporters here on Sunday. ‘The Board of Elections tells us that about 143,000 voters in all five boroughs will be assigned to poll sites different from their usual site. ‘Our NYC Service volunteers are letting many New Yorkers know about their polling places,’ he said.