Voting goes on in areas damaged by Sandy

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) -- Folks along the Connecticut shoreline knew they would be voting Tuesday, some just weren't sure where they would be voting.

"When I got to Longfellow which is right over there and I saw it was all boarded up," said Adam Pacio of Bridgeport. "Luckily there were people outside to point me in this direction."

The Longfellow School was damaged a week ago in superstorm Sandy. It was closed for renovations anyway, so it stayed closed, and voting moved to the Regional Vocational Aquaculture School.

"I got a phone call a few days ago, but then my wife didn't get a call so we were wondering whether that was a fake-out or something," Jeff Brookes of Bridgeport said, "so we looked it up online and found out that we were here."

Fortunately it's not much of a disruption because the two schools are a short distance apart.

In nearby Fairfield, the voting place didn't change but it was hard to get to. Voters made it through the debris and power lines to vote at Roger Sherman Elementary. For some, their polling place is a lot warmer than their house

"We're staying at home now," said John Youngs of Fairfield. "We were evacuated for four days and we've been home for three days."

And through it all, town officials let everyone know that the machinery of democracy would still run, even with a little sand in the gears.

"They did a good job, particularly with respect to the election, telling people through telephone calls that they're polling places would be open and where to go, so if you wanted to vote you knew where," said Steve Massey of Fairfield.

Only two polling places had to be changed because of Sandy -- the one in Bridgeport and another in New London.

Polls are open until 8:00 p.m.