Superstorm Sandy is having a devastating effect on voting in New Jersey, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law executive director Barbara Arnwine told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday morning.
Voters were being asked for I.D. even though the state has no law requiring it, voting locations opened late and some locations didn’t have ballots, she said. “In a word, there’s just one word to describe the experience in New Jersey, and that is catastrophe,” Arnwine said.
While the state is allowing voters to return their absentee ballots electronically, servers in at least three counties had shut down. Eric Marshall, legal mobilization manager for the lawyers’ committee, said they are encouraging voters in Essex, Hudson and Bergen counties to simply go to their polling places if they are able to.
