In-Person Voting Continues, Nov. 6 Contingencies Readied

In-person voting still is being conducted in the office of the Morris County Clerk even though other county government offices are closed Thursday and Friday, the county announced.

Meanwhile, officials said voting on Election Day, Tuesday, will be conducted regardless of whether polling places have power.

The county clerk’s election division extended Thursday in-person voting hours until 7 p.m. because the office was closed Monday and Tuesday for Tropical Storm Sandy, said Laura Roberts, election supervisor for the Morris County Clerk.

The clerk's office opened Wednesday for the first time this week and about 70 people made it in to vote, Roberts said.

Extended voting hours also are scheduled, as originally planned, from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday; and from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday.

The Morris County Clerk’s Office is on the first floor of the Administration and Records Building on Court Street in Morristown.

Tony Desimone, IT administrator for the Morris County Board of Elections, said voting at polls will be conducted Tuesday, Nov. 6, regardless of whether polling places have power, and municipal clerks have been asked to prepare contingency plans.

Towns could consolidate polling locations in a larger location and use a generator to provide lighting, he said. New locations would be publicized, and people would be stationed at the usual polling places to direct people to the new locations if that happens in certain towns, Desimone said.

Powering the county election booths is not a concern because the machines had new batteries installed last year that run for 48 hours, he said. Those batteries are charged.

"Our machines will run without power," Desimone said. "All they have to do is make it viable for voters to walk into those dark rooms."

Additional information about voting may be obtained by calling the election department of the County Clerk’s Office at 973-285-6066.