Hurricane Sandy is making it difficult for some citizens to vote in this years election.
Hurricane Sandy hit the tri-state area, including N.Y., N.J., and P.A., hard, leaving many without power and thousands of people homeless. “A bunch of the shutters on my house fell off and the antenna came off my roof …” says 20-year-old Jean Mottley. For the hurricane, she remained at college in Galloway, N.J., which is about 20 minutes from Atlantic City, N.J. Atlantic City was hit with such force by the hurricane, that where its board walk once was, is now rubble and sand.
Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett issued an order to extend the absentee ballot deadline for emergency personnel who have donated their time to helping others hurt by the hurricane. Based in Harrisburg, 23-year-old Kevin Hillman says, “It’s important that the right to vote [is] available to everyone, no matter the weather. Extending the absentee deadline was the right decision.”
Like many, Erica Meola, former Bloomsburg University student and current N.J. resident, voted this past Friday to be safe if power was not restored in time.
New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie has kept the state updated with his twitter account. “Email and fax voting will be available to New Jersey-ians displaced by hurricane #Sandy.” Mottley chose to fill out an absentee ballot to be safe – “I had sent in the application for an absentee ballot and I was pretty worried [because] it was taking forever to come. Then we were evacuated.”
President Barack Obama, on his way to F.L. to make an election speech, ordered his plane to be turned around due to the dangerous conditions of Hurricane Sandy. This did not change the mind of 20-year-old Joshua Roman of Ocala, F.L. “Obama knows what the right thing to do in that situation is.”
Voting still proves to be most important to citizens. “If I didn’t go out to vote, I feel like my wasted vote would go in favor of a candidate that I don’t care for or support,” says 21-year-old Sophia Cocke from Franklin Lakes, N.J. Hurricane Sandy won’t stop most American’s right to vote.
