Voters in NY, NJ Not Deterred By Storm’s Effects

People, many displaced from the Jersey Shore by Superstorm Sandy, stand outside the shelter where they are staying at Toms River East High School on Tuesday, in Toms River, N.J. The school is also a polling station for elections. (Mel Evans/AP)

Election Day turnout was heavy in several storm-ravaged areas in New York and New Jersey, with many voters expressing relief and even elation at being able to vote at all, considering the devastation.

Lines were long in Point Pleasant, N.J., where residents from the Jersey Shore communities of Point Pleasant Beach and Mantoloking had to cast their ballots due to damage in their hometowns.

Many there still have no power eight days after Sandy pummeled the shore.

Annette DeBona of Point Pleasant Beach says it was the happiest vote she ever cast in her life. She chose Mitt Romney, saying he can lift America out of a spiritual and mental depression.

Michael Sirchio, an insurance adjuster from Point Pleasant Beach whose own home was damaged in the storm, voted for Obama, saying he inherited a financial crisis and two wars, and did a good job ending both.

On New York City’s battered Staten Island, voters bundled up and lined up in the early morning darkness outside tents functioning as makeshift polling places.

Guest:

• Michael Cooper, national correspondent for The New York Times. He tweets @coopnytimes.