Special measures brought in for New York voters

Concerns were raised that voters in New York City and the surrounding areas would not be able to make it to polling stations after the superstorm rendered voting centres useless.

Officials in New Jersey say people displaced by the storm will be allowed to vote by email, and in New York 143,000 people will be assigned new polling stations. Both states are usually easy wins for the Democrats.

Read Washington Correspondent Matt Frei's latest blog: Election ground war: bayonets vs drones

Close to two million people are still without power after the storm battered the US coast a week ago.

Schools in New York were expected to re-open today, but between 30,000 to 40,000 people are in need of shelter.

Around 1.9 million homes are without power in New York and New Jersey, and the pressure is on utilities companies to restore networks ahead of a storm expected midweek which will bring with it freezing temperatures.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will today embark on their final campaigning surge, with the incumbent president visiting Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio and his challenger visiting Virginia, New Hampshire and Ohio.