North Carolina isn’t going to let a hurricane interfere with the election

When Cliff Marr, the elections director for Polk County in western North Carolina, heard that voters were stranded in a remote area, he knew he had to help. With these residents unable to reach the local election office after Hurricane Helene destroyed the only bridge connecting their community to schools, fire departments and other basic infrastructure, Marr decided he would go to them. With about 100 applications for absentee ballots, he traveled to where the bridge once stood, descended to the riverbank, crossed a wooden plank bridge and climbed a 40-foot makeshift scaffold on the other side. Marr plans to return once applications are filled out and then make the trip twice.

Marr isn’t the only one determined to ensure that eligible voters in the mountainous region can still vote. The hurricane made landfall in North Carolina three weeks before the start of early voting and just over a month before Election Day. harmful more than 126,000 homes and to leave 13,000 without electricity. In interviews, election officials and voters in the western part of the state described how, amid extraordinary challenges, they are all facing a transformed voting landscape and are stepping up efforts to make the election as smooth as possible.

“We don’t know how much recovery will happen between now and November, but I know they are doing everything they can to ensure that every precinct has a voting area, even if they put up big tents,” Joy said. Boothe, who cast her ballot on the first day of early voting in Yancey County, northeast of Asheville.

An inclusive democracy required resilience from its election systems when natural disasters – even those of “biblical‘proportions – strike. Despite the impact of the hurricane, voters in western North Carolina will have multiple ways to cast their ballots in the upcoming election. This is partly due to long-standing voting laws and policies. It is also a result of approval by government officials twofold changes to give voters more options and election officials more flexibility. Next to Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster-hit counties, state lawmakers allocated $5 million to the state Board of Elections for voting in the region.

Existing infrastructure strengthens North Carolina’s defenses

Long before Hurricane Helene, North Carolina election rules and policies provided safeguards to ensure voters could cast ballots if problems arose. The state offers multiple voting options. In addition to Election Day voting, North Carolina has allowed no-excuse absentee voting for decades and introduced in-person early voting nearly two decades ago.

Moreover, there is resilience built into these processes. The week before the storm’s arrival, local election officials emailed 190,000 absentee ballots. Voters can do that track the status of their ballots to help identify mail delays that may be caused by damaged or destroyed mailboxes and postal facilities. If they suspect a delay, they can request a replacement. Counties are finding that replacement ballots are being requested for the surprising number of ballots damaged by moisture. Displaced voters are requests for absentee ballots be sent to their temporary residence. The state is allowing voters who lost their photo IDs in the storm to submit an exemption form instead. Voters in affected counties returned more than 15,000 ballots during the first week of early voting.

Early in-person voting will also continue, despite some disruption to normal business operations. Of the 80 voting locations planned for the 25 counties in the declared disaster area, only four in Buncombe County, home to Asheville, failed to open. That’s two provinces expected to add early voting sites. Voters are also finding ways to get to the polls. On the first day of early voting, North Carolina residents raised more than 353,000 ballotssurpassing the state’s previous record set in 2020. Western North Carolina voters cast more than 225,000 in-person ballots in the first few days of early voting.

“I think my county government is doing everything they can within the parameters that they have to work within to give everyone the opportunity to vote,” said Matthew Baetzhold, a voter in Buncombe County. After Baetzhold heard his regular polling place was closed, he voted early at his local library.

Election officials and election workers continue to prioritize ensuring that every eligible person in their county can vote, even as recovery efforts continue. Boothe, the Yancey County voter, said her community is “experiencing the very worst of what can be experienced in the loss of friends, lives and homes.” She quits as a poll worker at her local police station.

“We hug and cry for a few minutes, and then we move on. We’re just going to keep going,” Mary Beth Tipton, director of the Yancey County Board of Elections, said of her efforts to keep the election process moving.

“You don’t take my vote”

Facing unprecedented devastation across half the state, the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the state legislature carried out emergency measures in the provinces hardest hit by the hurricane. These measures are critical to addressing the hurdles faced by local election officials and voters who are still recovering. Among the changes, local officials can designate alternate or “out-of-district” polling places (including in another county), adjust the days and hours of early polling places, and allow voters to return their ballots in counties other than the one where they live .

The state board “is always asking for what you need,” said Joseph Trivette, deputy director of the Avery County Board of Elections.

The emergency resolutions are a lifeline for voters and election officials, many of whom have lost their homes or been temporarily displaced. “You may have taken my house, you may have taken everything I have, but you’re not taking away my voice,” Tipton said. These efforts have not been in vain. Yancey County is one of 22 counties in western North Carolina that saw record turnout in the first few days of early voting.

The resolutions expand options for returning completed absentee ballots. They are offering voters in affected counties the option to request absentee ballots in person and receive them immediately, rather than waiting for them in the mail. For Marr, the ability to issue absentee ballots “over the counter” is critical. “The whole community benefits,” he said.

Because many residents do not know where they will live temporarily or when they will be able to return home, this option offers certainty that they will be able to vote. After receiving the materials, some voters mark their ballot in the parking lot and immediately return it to the elections office, Tipton said. Counties may also direct multipartisan response teams, which traditionally assist voters with disabilities living in health care facilities, to expand assistance in requesting and casting absentee ballots for displaced voters. Voters in affected counties have until 5 p.m. Nov. 4 to request an absentee ballot.

The emergency measures also provide more flexibility for voters on election day. Disaster victims can vote at “central transmission areas,” locations where every eligible voter in the province can receive and cast a ballot.

“Flexibility is key,” said Matt Snyder, director of the Watauga County Board of Elections. In some counties, “the National Guard sleeps at night in the same place where you vote,” he added.

Officials we spoke with have tried to keep voting locations for affected counties close to their original locations. In some areas, district consolidation was the only viable option, but counties are committed to informing voters of necessary changes.

Additionally, the Legislature’s $5 million in emergency funding, along with federal assistance, will be used for election-related communications, such as sending out voter education materials, as well as improving access to technology and internet for county election boards, hiring temporary election staff, and securing the necessary resources to enable in-person voting.

With Election Day just around the corner, these election officials and voters are showing no signs of hesitation.

“We are so united in grief and recovery,” Boothe said of her community in the aftermath of the hurricane. “A lot of effort has gone into making sure people know when, how and where to vote.”

For questions about voting, please call 866-OUR-VOTE. For hurricane-related assistance, call the Federal Emergency Management Agency helpline at 800–621–3362.

Arlyss Herzig contributed research.