Putnam Prepped for Election Day After Sandy

Sandy's wind and rain are long-over, but the superstorm's wake may have a major impact on the next big story—Election Day.

Putnam County, however, is prepared for an influx of voters, Board of Elections officials said.

With tens-of-thousands still in the dark throughout Putnam, only a small passel of polling places in the county remain without power.

"We have most locations up and running," said Putnam election commissioner Anthony G. Scannapieco, Jr. "A few, we're waiting to see what happens."

Scannapieco said about 15 of the county's 21 polling places had power as of noon Friday. And for some locations, it's because a back-up plan was already in place.

"The firehouses all have generators," Scannapieco said.

Polls are open Tuesday, Nov. 6 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Putnam voting spots also have not seen a dip in the number of poll workers slated to pitch in, Scannapieco said.

In other parts of the Lower Hudson Valley, however, it's a different story altogether. 68 of Rockland County's 80 polling places were powerless as of Thursday afternoon.

"Right now we are in contact with the state, requesting emergency generators," said Lou Babcock, one of Rockland's election commissioners. Babock is also seeking lights, power cords and gasoline to run the generators.

If voting locations do not have power to run the ballot scanners, election officials in Rockland will store the ballot sheets in a locked container, and feed them through the machines at a later date or different location.

"There could be a two-to-three day delay," Babcock said.

Babcock says shuttering a polling site would be a last-ditch plan.

"We are not looking at closing any of the polling sites," he said. "If we do have to, there will be signage on our website, and we will communicate through radio and TV—but most people without electricity don't have radio or TV, so they won't know until they're at polling sites."

The New York State Board of Elections has extended its absentee ballot deadline, allowing away-from-home voters to send in their choices by Nov. 2. The deadline in usually Oct. 30.

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