The Virginia State Board of Elections recently ‘advised’
local registrars to accommodate voters who request to vote absentee due to the
possible impact of Hurricane Sandy.[1]
Unless Hurricane Sandy makes conditions unsafe for voters
and employees, the State Board of Elections is urging local registrar offices
to remain open for in-person absentee voting. In-person absentee voting is
carried out on weekdays and the last two Saturdays before November 6th,
Election Day.
The Virginia State Board of Elections said it had been
assured that polling places will receive high priority status for power
restoration.
Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, this year’s election cycle has
taken an added turn of uncertainty as much of the East Coast prepares for a
hurricane that some forecasters claim will be stronger and wider than Hurricane
Irene,[2]
which caused widespread devastation in 2011.
In other words, Hurricane Sandy could not have come at a
worse time during the 2012 election cycle.
But in at least one respect, the oncoming hurricane has
quieted both the Obama and Romney campaigns as each awaits the potential
consequences on the eastern United States. The hurricane has given an impetus
for both candidates to call a momentary truce to rally the country’s focus
behind those who are in a direct line of the hurricane’s path.
If nothing else, the hurricane should remind Americans that
we are all in the same boat and that the political issues that we so
passionately expound are insignificant matters in the face of threatening
natural phenomena.
Thus, politics isn’t everything. Sometimes lending a helping
hand to a neighbor can mean the difference between a fractured society and one that
stands firm even when political divisions are deep.
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