FAIR LAWN – Members of the Bergen County Republican Organization at campaign headquarters say they’re preparing to hunker down for a long night.

Local Republican Party members began slowly streaming in to the party headquarters for election night a little more than an hour after officials opened the doors here. Despite the influx of GOP supporters and anticipated arrival of some candidates, officials say Hurricane Sandy may leave questions of who won which race unanswered until tomorrow morning.

“We’re in completely uncharted water,” said Bob Yudin, chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization.

“I think there’s an excellent chance we’re not going to know until tomorrow morning (who won some of these races),” he said.

Yudin cited slower than normal election result returns. The lag can be attributed to the superstorm that slammed into the Jersey coast about a week ago.

County election officials confirmed they scrapped plans to keep a rolling tally of election results at county headquarters. As with most elections, local precincts phone in unofficial results to the county before hand delivering the ballots.

However, the decision was made to not keep the rolling tally – which provides a quick look at returns – since election officials have had to to scramble to prepare for Election Day following Sandy.

“I had to make the decision,” said Patricia Dicostanzo, superintendent of elections for Bergen County.

“I decided not to do the telephone tally, which we’ve done for years,” she said. “I just felt it wasn’t a good time.”

Eileen DeBari, chairwoman of the Bergen County Board of Elections, could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday night on whether the delay could ultimately affect when voters and candidates find out election results.