New Documentary Examines Sandy's Impact at the Polls

A 20-minute documentary that details the efforts government officials, advocacy groups and civic-minded citizens made last year to get voters to the polls in the wake of Superstorm Sandy will be screened Wednesday at the Hoboken Historical Museum.

“Storming the Vote: Hurricane Sandy to the Election,” which was paid for and produced by the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and directed by award-winning Monmouth County-based documentarian Christina Eliopoulos, draws from interviews and archival footage to document the pressure-packed run-up from the storm — which left millions of residents in the dark — to the election one week later.

“This film demonstrates that for New Jersey citizens, having the opportunity to cast a vote was a comfort, a palpable sense of relief, a moment of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic and disorienting week,” said Kerry Butch, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “Most importantly, the film is an inspiring testament to the fact that participating in the democratic process unites and serves all of us.”

Hoboken, because it was one of the hardest-hit communities in the state, figures prominently in the film. City clerk James Farina and county board of elections clerk Michael Harper both provided video interviews about efforts to find alternate polling stations and emergency paper ballots.

The free screening will be held at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion with Farina, Harper, Butch and Myrna Perez, the deputy director at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. The event is the first in a series of programs planned for the museum’s new Sandy retrospective exhibit, which opened Saturday night.