Following Hurricane Helene’s widespread devastation to the western region of the state due to floods, election authorities in North Carolina are working feverishly to ensure that the state’s more than 7 million registered voters can cast ballots in the next presidential election.
One of the seven “battleground” states that will likely decide who will win the presidency in 2020—Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump—is North Carolina.
The executive director of the state’s board of elections, Karen Brinson-Bell, stated on Tuesday that “the destruction is unprecedented, and this level of uncertainty, this close to Election Day, is daunting.”
The storm has forced the closure of twelve county election offices in western North Carolina, she claimed, with the deadline for voter registration on October 11 rapidly approaching. But no voting equipment or ballots were damaged in the storm, she said.
By mid- to late-week, according to her, the state hopes to have a comprehensive evaluation of the storm’s effects on election infrastructure and other matters.
“It’s really just too soon to know, but it is our intent to open early voting in all 100 counties on Oct. 17,” Brinson-Bell stated.
According to her, the board will still permit voters to register in person with identification and has created a website with voting-related information about Helene. It is also collaborating with the US Postal Service to guarantee that absentee ballots are sent.
According to her, requests for almost 250,000 mail-in ballots had been made throughout the state.
In western North Carolina, hundreds of homes have been damaged, forcing inhabitants to relocate; some town and village centers were completely devastated by unexpected flooding after the storm.
North Carolina is one of several states targeted by Republicans with new restrictive voting laws. Democrats hope to flip the state to back Harris in November, which would be the first time since 2008 North Carolina voters backed a Democrat.
Brinson-Bell responded that even if voters must cast ballots in a different manner than usual, the state would still rely on precinct poll books and post-election verification checks in response to the question of whether the changes, turmoil, and confusion will affect people’s faith in the election outcomes.
“It won’t change the way we conduct elections. We might need to approach things a little differently simply because there was a hurricane.”
(Reuters)
