[h=3]By HEATHER HADDON[/h]Still recovering from the destruction wrought by Sandy, the states of New Jersey and New York are altering their election procedures to accommodate voters displaced by the superstorm.
New Jersey is allowing those voters to cast their ballots by email and fax, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed an executive order allowing voters to cast affidavit, or provisional, ballots at polling sites outside their districts..
The moves raised concerns among election and security experts about hacking, as well as whether the votes will be legitimate under state law.
Sandy forced thousands to leave their homes, led to widespread power outages and closed many of the public buildings commonly used as polling places, such as schools.
Already in New Jersey, residents have stood in hour-long lines at county election offices to cast early votes. Nearly 100 inaccessible polling sites were still being moved Monday, and county clerks struggled to keep up with the volume of calls.
A phone number provided over the weekend by New Jersey for voters to text to verify their polling locations didn't have updated information, though it would be corrected by Tuesday, state officials said.
Angelo Genova, a partner at a legal firm in Newark that represents the campaigns of top New Jersey Democrats, wondered how the changes would affect the overall election. "We all sit with bated breath to see if it works," he said. "Hopefully we will have confidence in the outcome so this isn't fraught with litigation."
The New Jersey Attorney General's office said it would dispatch 300 staff lawyers Tuesday to help oversee the fairness of the election.
Email and fax voting has been implemented on a limited scale in New Jersey for those living overseas, but never for voters living in the state. Gov. Chris Christie's administration extended the two-step option only to those displaced from their homes by Sandy, with voters having to request a mail-in voting application and then return their electronic ballot by Tuesday night.
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey received dozens of calls Monday from residents with questions about how to vote by email, many of them temporarily located outside the state.
Others were planning to vote electronically even if they remained home. Lane Gold, a 40-year-old Jersey City resident whose power was restored Sunday, chose to vote by email rather than take a chance that his polling location would be open Tuesday.
"I'm not going to feel 100% that my vote will be counted," said Mr. Gold, an architecture firm executive. "They are doing what they can, but you are counting emails plus ballots plus mail-in votes."
Penny Venetis, a law professor at Rutgers University, said legal scholars were looking into the legitimacy of state officials extending email voting to in-state residents, as is the case with overseas voters. The email votes could invite a legal challenge, Ms. Venetis said.
"Votes will be insecure and we believe challengeable," she said.
Ernest Landante, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, said the state has allowed for electronic voting since 2008 and is versed in its procedures. "We are not new to electronic voting in New Jersey," he said.
Write to Heather Haddon at [email protected]
New Jersey is allowing those voters to cast their ballots by email and fax, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed an executive order allowing voters to cast affidavit, or provisional, ballots at polling sites outside their districts..
The moves raised concerns among election and security experts about hacking, as well as whether the votes will be legitimate under state law.
Sandy forced thousands to leave their homes, led to widespread power outages and closed many of the public buildings commonly used as polling places, such as schools.
Already in New Jersey, residents have stood in hour-long lines at county election offices to cast early votes. Nearly 100 inaccessible polling sites were still being moved Monday, and county clerks struggled to keep up with the volume of calls.
A phone number provided over the weekend by New Jersey for voters to text to verify their polling locations didn't have updated information, though it would be corrected by Tuesday, state officials said.
Angelo Genova, a partner at a legal firm in Newark that represents the campaigns of top New Jersey Democrats, wondered how the changes would affect the overall election. "We all sit with bated breath to see if it works," he said. "Hopefully we will have confidence in the outcome so this isn't fraught with litigation."
The New Jersey Attorney General's office said it would dispatch 300 staff lawyers Tuesday to help oversee the fairness of the election.
Email and fax voting has been implemented on a limited scale in New Jersey for those living overseas, but never for voters living in the state. Gov. Chris Christie's administration extended the two-step option only to those displaced from their homes by Sandy, with voters having to request a mail-in voting application and then return their electronic ballot by Tuesday night.
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey received dozens of calls Monday from residents with questions about how to vote by email, many of them temporarily located outside the state.
Others were planning to vote electronically even if they remained home. Lane Gold, a 40-year-old Jersey City resident whose power was restored Sunday, chose to vote by email rather than take a chance that his polling location would be open Tuesday.
"I'm not going to feel 100% that my vote will be counted," said Mr. Gold, an architecture firm executive. "They are doing what they can, but you are counting emails plus ballots plus mail-in votes."
Penny Venetis, a law professor at Rutgers University, said legal scholars were looking into the legitimacy of state officials extending email voting to in-state residents, as is the case with overseas voters. The email votes could invite a legal challenge, Ms. Venetis said.
"Votes will be insecure and we believe challengeable," she said.
Ernest Landante, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, said the state has allowed for electronic voting since 2008 and is versed in its procedures. "We are not new to electronic voting in New Jersey," he said.
Write to Heather Haddon at [email protected]