Politics & Government

Election Contingency Formulating for Hillsborough

School superintendent has offered the high school as an alternative location for any polling stations not operable by Tuesday.

As the cleanup continues from Hurricane Sandy's devastation throughout the state and region, many are starting to wonder about the storm's impact on the upcoming general election.

With power scarce and damage still being evaluated, normal polling locations may not be up and running by the time Tuesday's election arrives. 

A plan hasn't fully been put into place, as there is still assessment that needs to be done on the township's normal polling locations. However, contingency options are beginning to be discussed.

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Currently in Hillsborough we're in conversation with the county board of elections. We're currently evaluating the usual facilities that hold our polling booths," Mayor Carl Saruci said on Thursday.

Suraci said that six of the usual polling stations are still without power in the township. Because of that, the township is waiting until noon Friday to give the final information to the county board of elections so they know where they'll be moving their polling machines.

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, there is one place being offered already as an alternative should any of the locations be inoperable come Tuesday.

"Under the graciousness of school superintendent Jorden Schiff, he has offered Hillsborough High School as an alternative location for any of our local polling places that will not be available," Suraci said.

The tentative contingency plan comes after a conference call with the governor's office on Thursday. Before that call, both Gov. Chris Christie and Suraci said their focus was on the recovery effort and not the election.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here