Sandy Makes For Crowded but Organized Elections

Chatham Township voters described the polls at the Green Village Fire Department as organized and with short or no lines Tuesday morning

Brian George, who usually votes at Corpus Christi Church, said depsite the consolidation of five polling places into one location, the poll workers were "very efficient" and "well-organized."

Township Clerk Greg LaConte said he had reports of congestion at the two polling places, which he said was not surprising since each polling place had more than double the usual number of districts to manage.

"The consolidation of polling places ... has created some parking issues, but aside from that things have been working as effectively as they can, given the situation," LaConte said.

LaConte advised residents to vote early and avoid the 5 to 8 p.m. rush.

In Chatham Borough, Laura Vavricka of Asbury cast a provisional ballot at the Chatham United Methodist Church. She came to stay in Chatham with a friend after she was forced to leave her home because of Tropical Storm Sandy.

"I had to give my license and social security number," Vavricka said, but overall the process of casting her ballot outside of her usual county was "easy."

Voting by email or fax machine was not an option for Vavricka because she said she didn't have a way to print or scan her ballot. As a result, she could not vote in her local elections.

"I guess I could have, but [the email ballot] wasn't convenient," Vavricka said. "You have to print it out, you have to scan it, and considering you don't really have those resources, it's not really applicable."