Hurricane Sandy shook up many aspects of public and private life in Sullivan County, but the elections will go on much the same as always. Only two polling places will be changed due to complications following the storm, a Board of Elections official told the Watershed Post.
“Sullivan county has 39 poll sites and 63 election districts,” said Rodney Gaebel, the county's Republican election commissioner, on Friday evening. “They're all up and running, and I can tell you that 37 are staying exactly the same with no change.”
The two exceptions are Willowemoc Baptist Church in the Town of Neversink, and the Town Hall in the Town of Forestburgh. These two polling places have been relocated to the Neversink fire house on Route 55, and the Forestburgh fire house on Route 42, respectively.
“The only reason those two sites are being moved is because they have no power,” Gaebel said.
When asked if he's confident the elections will go on without a hitch, Gaebel said, “I'm more than confident, that's the way it is. The machines have all been delivered. Barring another storm like that, we're good to go.”
The Sullivan County Board of Elections conducts all national, state, county, city and town elections in the county. Gaebel is the Republican commissioner and Ann Prusinski is the Democratic commissioner of the Board of Elections. Gaebel said they are both thankful for the volunteer and civic organizations, businesses, and many individuals who responded to the storm and its aftermath, ensuring that the elections will take place as planned.
“We couldn't do this ourselves,” he said.
