Posted on 10/25/2012 10:40:41 PM PDT by 11th_VA
It's been called "snowicane" and "worse than the perfect storm," and it could knock out power in the mid-Atlantic through Election Day.
Hurricane Sandy hasn't even made it past the Bahamas yet, but Sandy, or any natural disaster around Election Day, could wreak extreme havoc on the election, experts say.
[PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy Threatens Caribbean]
Political scientists have long studied the effects of rain and inclement weather on voter turnout and, not surprisingly, have found many people would rather stay at home than brave the weather. But more extreme storms or natural disasters that affect an entire state or region could turn a mild inconvenience into a huge mess.
That's because there are few federal election procedure laws, Robert Pastor, co-director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management says. Election process is generally left up to state or local governments, who Pastor says are "least capable of handling a statewide or regional disaster."
Most states have contingency plans in case a state of emergency is declared on Election Day. In Virginia, which could be hit hard by Sandy, Governor Bob McDonnell can postpone the election for up to 14 days, leading to all sorts of logistical issues...
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
I suspect the folks at the Weather Channel are lusting after a weather disaster to make them seem important again. This hurricane is getting them all excited. I hope it fizzles out for their sake.
The latest models have this hitting land in the mid-atlantic by late Monday and hanging around for two-three days. The weather guys around are very reliable so we in VA should expect lots of power outages and the last time, they lasted a few days, longer on the DelMarVa peninsula. It will probably be worse for PA and NH.
I expect shenanigans and pleas to keep the polling places open because poor people can’t get to the booths in time.
why early? So they can vote again in closer districts and again on election day.
“Please, don’t pull claims out of your arse. The forecast calls for a blocking high up in the Canadian Maritimes that will push the storm into the Mid-Atlantic. This is a potential major, MAJOR storm. People need to take it seriously.”
Exactly, If it hit next week in the mid-Atlantic (NJ,Delaware, PA) as a Category 1 hurricane or a strong tropical storm it can knock electricity out for millions of people for over a week or two weeks, like hurricane Irene did to New England last year. That is between the potential winds, flood, snow and ice. Yes that (timeline) would put you till election day.
Just a thought having read somewhere before about Democrat election stunts, and that is the more Democrats that vote early the quicker, the easier it is for them to determine how many votes they need to manufacture one way or the other to win.
Aren’t these dumb @ss liberals aware of that new device called a generator?
The only states that could be affected in terms of the electoral college would be Pennsylvania and Virginia.
If the Philly area were hit hard while the rest of the state was not...
In VA it would depend which area was affected, the DC area or some area in southern VA. So it could go either way.
The storm is well ahead of election day, so I think we are talking only about long term power outages in terms of affecting turnout.
Yes. To look for fraud, people here have to be election observers. Hard enough to get volunteers for one day, let alone weeks. I don’t know how it works in other places, but anything Dems are for implies fraud and wrongdoing.
http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/depression-storm-eighteen-20121020
Losing power in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast hurts Obama much more than Romney. Trust me, Romeny voters are motivated to go to the polls come hell or high water.
I will walk, trudge, crawl, or swim if I have to, to get to a voting booth to vote out this administration!!! I would walk twenty miles if I had to ...
I do feel if it knocks power out, it’s going to disrupt this election. Northern Virginia is very slow to get its act in gear with power outages.
Pretty amazing this is happening right now.
Wondering if they don’t clear the name from the role and then someone who has a list of early voters can go vote using those names on Election Day?
Obama could declare a national emergency if the East Coast from VA to Maine is really impacted and call for rescheduling the election
This situation has the potential for being a real crisis
Nice maps of possible tracks here:
http://www.wral.com/weather/hurricanes/page/5878513/ (click on map and drag to move)
http://hurricane.accuweather.com/hurricane/interactive-tracker.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=1
http://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/atlantic
For MA Tues is the big day.
And just like in other disasters, the Mormon church would be early on the scene with aid to those affected. Take that, Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson and Rev. Wright.
I’m a broken glass voter, and so are most Republicans at this point of the game.
I think the real fear lies in the power being out for several days prior to the election.
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