Doug wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:54:06 -0500, G. Morgan
wrote:

Okay, there are an estimated 6-10 million people without power in the
Atlantic coastal United States. This power outage could easily last
past November 6 in many areas, which of course is election day.

With public transportation disrupted or non-existent, or no power at
the polling places - what will happen if millions can not vote
because of the storm's effects?

Five "swing states" are heavily affected by the storm. They include:

MAINE
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NORTH CAROLINA
OHIO
PENNSYLVANIA
VIRGINIA

If these people are unable to vote due to flooding, power outages,
lack of transportation, etc... what "backup plan" is there, if any?
If the election were to be postponed, it would only seem fair to
postpone it for *every* state and territory. It wouldn't be right
if 16/50 states had to wait while the rest of the country votes on
Nov. 6th.

Does anyone know if there is a law that provides for postponement in
the event of a natural disaster?


(Best viewed with at least 72 chars. width)

"States Affected by Sandy" "Swing States" "Affected Swingers"

CONNECTICUT Arizona MAINE
DELAWARE Colorado NEW HAMPSHIRE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Florida NORTH CAROLINA
MAINE Iowa OHIO
MARYLAND Main PENNSYLVANIA
MASSACHUSETTS Michigan VIRGINIA
NEW HAMPSHIRE Minnesota
NEW JERSEY Nevada
NEW YORK New Hampshire
NORTH CAROLINA New Mexico
OHIO North Carolina
PENNSYLVANIA Ohio
RHODE ISLAND Pennsylvania
SOUTH CAROLINA Virginia
VIRGINIA Wisconsin
WEST VIRGINIA


Per CNN, it is determined by state.

In general, true, BUT election for federal office was established by
Congress as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Individual
states may tinker at the margins, such as hours of operation, early voting,
etc., but a state can't actually CHANGE the official election date.

Come to think on it, though, if a state has, so far, unfettered ability to
massage "early" or "absentee" voting, it seems possible that a state could
set up "late" voting under the same logic.