Few Lines, Easy Voting in Florham Park, E. Hanover

While many Florham Park residents said they were concerned about what conditions at the polls would be like, the experience was simple and easy.

"I think this is a good solution," Ed Schneider said. Usually Schneider votes at Ridgedale Middle School, but Tuesday he voted at the Florham Park library along with the residents of three local districts. He said using one location for three districts was a "more efficient" use of police resources.

Schneider also said he felt better about voting in the library because the elections would not disrupt school. "I'd like to vote here regularly," he said. "It works out better from my perspective."

Schneider said he received a flyer from the borough giving him the updated polling locations, but that afterwards he received a voicemail from the borough telling him he needed to check for updates on polling places.

"I didn't know what to expect. There was some confusion in the way they said it," Schneider said, "but I knew I was in the right place when I drove past the middle school and there were no voting signs."

As for what issues were on his mind as he went to the polls, Schneider said he was more concerned about getting a generator to a friend of his who was still without power. Voting, he said, "was just something I had to do. My mind was on helping my friend."

Other residents echoed Schneider's reports of no lines at the polls. Nuala Tunnera said her experience voting at the Florham Park Fire Department "couldn't have been better."

Rita Faulkner said she was worried about lines since some places in town—and throughout the state—were still without power, but there were no lines for her Tuesday morning.

Daniel Palmer voted in his first presidential election—and in person—for the first time Tuesday. He is a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University and said before Tropical Storm Sandy hit, there was a big push to get students registered to vote.

"It was supposed to be easier," Palmer said. "There were going to be shuttles to take us [to the polling places]. But after the hurricane we all had to evacuate."

Since his house was still without power, Palmer said, voting by fax or email "wouldn't have been an option for me."

T.J. Michalowski also voted in his first presidential election Tuesday. He said he skipped two classes to come and vote in Florham Park, an experience he called "quick and painless."

East Hanover residents were able to vote at their usual polling places. Turnout seemed light outside the East Hanover Library and the East Hanover Fire Department as morning turned to afternoon.

"There's no one in there," Thomas Maiocco said after he voted at the fire department. "There are no lines."

Maiocco said continued power outages might affect local turnout in the election. "I think a lot of people are still getting [power back]," Maiocco said.

Nick Sgourakis said he expects turnout to increase later in the day. "There's nobody in there, but maybe it's the time of day," he said early Tuesday afternoon after he voted at the East Hanover Library.