Hurricane Helene’s destruction in places like Asheville, North Carolina, is having a ripple effect. Now, elections officials are working to make sure everyone has a chance to vote. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared more than 20 counties as disaster areas in the western part of the state.
There are concerns about voter turnout and ballot delivery due to widespread damage. As a result, state officials passed emergency measures to make it easier for storm victims to cast their vote.
The North Carolina Board of Elections approved more than a dozen changes. Those changes will allow counties to alter early voting and Election Day locations, as well as allow voters to drop off absentee ballots at any board of elections office by 7:30 p.m. on election night.
“Many of these communities will be without power, without water, without internet, without cell service potentially for weeks,” said Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell. “Our job is to figure out, as long as there are citizens in those communities, how do we provide them with voting opportunities so that they can exercise their right to vote.”
North Carolina is a very important battleground state in the upcoming presidential election with 16 electoral votes. Former President Donald Trump narrowly won the state in 2020 and polls show it will be close again this November.
Real Clear Politics shows Trump ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris by less than one percentage point.
The state voter registration deadline remains Oct. 11 with early voting set to begin Oct. 17.
