Sandy Will Only Affect One Pennsylvania Polling Spot

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

November 5, 2012 | 5:40 PM

SuperStorm Sandy will likely have a minimal impact on Pennsylvania voting tomorrow.

Just five polling places remain powerless, and Governor Tom Corbett’s office says generators have been set up at each location.

That’s a stark contrast to areas of New York and New Jersey, which are both scrambling to set up voting contingency plans.

One Pennsylvania polling spot will be relocated: Bucks County residents who normally vote at Riegelsville Borough Hall are being asked to cast ballots at the nearby fire hall, located on 333 Delaware Ave.

Here’s the full release from the Corbett Administration:

Harrisburg – Gov. Tom Corbett announced this afternoon that all Pennsylvania voters will be able to cast ballots as usual tomorrow, as power has been restored to almost all polling locations following Hurricane Sandy.

As of mid-afternoon Monday, five polling locations remained without power. Emergency generators were on site at each of these five locations in the event electricity is not restored by Tuesday’s election.

Bucks County election officials are moving one polling site, from Riegelsville Borough Hall to Riegelsville Fire Hall, 333 Delaware Ave., Riegelsville, due to a damaged pole and dangling wires at the borough hall site.

“Governor Corbett directed last week that the Department of State work cooperatively with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, county emergency management officials, and county election offices, to identify the locations of all polling places in Pennsylvania,” said Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele, whose department oversees elections. “Working cooperatively, we provided this list to utilities, which, at the governor’s request, prioritized returning power to polling stations.”

Aichele commended the governor for his leadership in the effort, and thanked all the emergency responders and utility crews who worked long hours to make sure Pennsylvanians could exercise their right to vote.

“We all owe a debt of gratitude to these men and women, many of whom spent days away from their families, to make sure our election will take place without disruption,” Aichele said.