Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order allowing voters who can't make it to their normal polling place on Tuesday to cast ballots at any polling site in the state.
Voters who visit alternate polling sites will cast an affidavit ballot affirming that they are registered to vote in one of New York's federally declared disaster counties – Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester – or New York City, Cuomo said in a release.
Voters, however, should attempt to cast ballots at their regular polling place, the governor said.
"If they cannot reach their polling site or their site is shutdown, only then should they vote at an alternative site," the release states.
Those who vote at alternate sites will be able to vote in the presidential and U.S. Senate contests "and for any other candidate and ballot initiative that appears on the official ballot where the voter is registered."
That means people who vote at alternate sites may not be able to cast ballots for all of the candidates running in their home district. A Suffolk County resident, for example, who votes in New York City will not be able to vote in State Senate or Assembly races.
Cuomo said the goal of the executive order was to give as many people as possible the chance to vote.
“Hurricane Sandy has already disrupted the lives of countless New Yorkers, but we will not let it disrupt anyone seeking to exercise the most fundamental of democratic rights: the right to vote,” he said. “Even in times of great tragedy and suffering, New Yorkers understand that we must continue to do all that we can to maintain the integrity of our system. That is why the State is making every effort to ensure that voters who are displaced from their homes because of the storm will still be able to make their voices heard on Election Day.”
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