Many voters across Three Village reported no hurricane-related problems voting so far on Tuesday, despite lingering power outages and shortages in gas around town.
"I had no problem getting here at all," said Ruth Kahn, a Three Village resident since 1970.
Ed Munoz, whose home got power restored on Sunday, said he didn't have a problem getting to the polls, either. "But there is definitely going to be hysteria with the gas problem if we don't get some relief soon."
Between about 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., more than a dozen voters showed up by foot because they lived so close to the Arrowhead polling site.
"It's a real local walk," said Steve Bogia, who arrived around 10 a.m. with his family to vote. "We probably would have walked anyway, but it definitely saves gas."
At Nassakeag Elementary on Tuesday afternoon – where the property was smattered with downed trees and power lines immediately following the storm, and a traffic light has stood inoperational for more than a week – voters also reported no problems.
Laurie McManus and Chris Rothmeier walked from their nearby neighborhood.
When it came to voting, "the hurricane didn't effect us at all," McManus said.
Jeremy and Merrill Stein, 18-year residents of the S Section, are without power again after getting it back on Monday. "They fooled us," Merrill Stein said. Jeremy Stein added they've got enough gas for now. "That didn't affect us, but that may become a problem soon in general," he said.
At W.S. Mount Elementary – which only regained power on Tuesday, according to a school spokeswoman – a couple of voters said the hurricane's effects did at least threaten their ability to vote. But everything turned out just fine.
"If I didn't have gas, I wasn't going to vote today," said Dorene Koenig, a 33-year resident. "Thankfully, we got a tank. They're price gouging now. ... It's horrible."
Earl Maksin, a resident since 1981, said his home got power back yesterday and he and his wife were able to clean up the property. "Otherwise, we were worried about coming over here," he said.
As for the issues, many were reluctant to discuss the specific candidates or issues, but said it's going to be interesting.
"I'm not sure how this thing is going to go," Jennifer Bogia said. "It's not definite."
Munoz, the Republican candidate for Brookhaven town's first council district in 2011, said he is hoping for a Mitt Romney victory, and that he also hopes people exercise their right to vote because so many lives have been lost defending that right.
"It seems to be a great turnout locally," he said.
