SAN LUIS OBISPO - Superstorm Sandy's devastating impact on the east coast is likely to be felt for days to come, perhaps even on election day next Tuesday.
"There's already been delay and postponement of early voting for three days in the DC area and some other regions", says Cal Poly Political Science professor Michael Latner who points out even Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President during the height of the Civil War.
"The odds that there would be a nationwide postponement of presidential election are virtually nil", Latner says.
But if something did happen, California counties organize and run elections.
In San Luis Obispo County there are contingency plans in place should there be a large-scale natural disaster in the days leading up to and even on the day of a general election.
"Are our polling places unsafe, do we not have access to our polls", says San Luis Obispo County elections chief Julie Rodewald, "then we get on the phone and talk with the Secretary of State on what needs to be done in terms of holding the election."
Rodewald says despite any unexpected natural event, any decision to postpone or delay a constitutionally guaranteed general election ultimately rests in Sacramento.
"I don't have the authority to cancel Election Day", Rodewald says, "but that's something we would have a conversation with at the state level."
