video transcript

It wasn't easy but Americans along the East Coast weren't about to let super storm Sandy keep them from voting --- even if the polling station was actually a polling tent like this one in Queens, New York SOUNDBITE: Maureen Walsh, New York Resident saying: "This is great, this is what America is all about. You get knocked down, you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and you get going. And this is wonderful. I'm so glad to have the opportunity to vote today." SOUNDBTIE: Teasther Saunderson, New York Resident saying: "Because it's my privilege, it's my right. Why should I give it up. I shouldn't let anything stop me. Once upon a time you couldn't vote. So now, I'm taking advantage of it." While some voters gave the makeshift voting setup a thumbs up, their frustation with the government is close to the surface. SOUNDBITE: Charisse George, Poll Worker saying: "No matter what Barack, you got my vote, but at the same time I'm angry because we're outside voting and you have to leave from the cold to go sleep in the cold and it's not fair. They made it their business to go get generators to vote for people who live in the White House and who are nice and warm and cuddly." The rules at polling stations throughout the region were clearly more relaxed (pic of voters with dogs) SOUNDBITE: Voter Emily Curtis saying: "Hoboken looked like a war zone. I thought they really tried very hard and did very well. You know, what can you do? It was a disaster." Confusion over venue changes was a common complaint. SOUNDBITE: Jake Stuiver saying: "We went over to 228 Adams Street now and my name wasn't on the list there. And I saw about four people who've had a similar experience." Some say the stakes in this election are just too high not to vote." SOUNDBITE: Staten Island Resident, Fred Guinta, saying: "I voted all Republican. Why? I think we need a change, I just think the country was heading the wrong way. That's why I'm doing that. So a little change, again which was the current gentleman's slogan and maybe we'll do that with the new guy Mr. Romney. And we'll see, four years from now, if I don't like him, maybe I'll pick somebody else." "President Obama, because I think he's certainly the best person to be president in every way possible and I dislike Paul Ryan immensely. And I don't think any woman in their right mind should vote for him." For many, who have seen their homes destroyed and their lives completely upended by Sandy, the ritual of voting --- even amid debris and devastion -- was worth the aggravation.