North Carolina election officials are adjusting voting rules to Allow residents in areas affected by recent hurricanes to vote early in the upcoming election.
Hurricane Helen devastated the Southeast and blanketed battleground states that had already begun early voting.
But as the focus shifted to disaster relief, the storm severely damaged several predominantly red counties and early voting locations.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections passed a bipartisan emergency resolution Monday reforming the state's early voting process in 13 counties. Notably, all but one Buncombe voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020.
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Workers, community members and business owners clean up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen on Monday, September 30, 2024 in Marshall, North Carolina. (Javin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Adjustments include changing or adding voting sites and maintaining their availability, extending voting site hours, and adding or shortening sites' business days during the early voting period, the election commission said.
Voters in those counties will have more time to request an absentee ballot, with a Nov. 4 deadline.
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The state Board of Elections identified 13 counties in western North Carolina that were most affected by the hurricane.
Counties where changes to the early voting process will apply include Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey.
Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks outside the Chez Wat furniture store during a visit to Valdosta, Georgia, which was affected by Hurricane Helen, on Monday, September 30, 2024. (Evan Vucci)
Voters in these counties will have the option to submit their absentee ballots to another county's board of elections, rather than following previous protocols that required them to submit their ballots only to their home county. Become.
Mr. Trump narrowly won North Carolina by about 1.4 percentage points in 2020, and since then early voting has been a focus of Republicans' ground campaign efforts this term, the state Republican Party said in a recent interview. he told Fox News Digital.
However, the former president told Fox News that he believes voters will still vote in the election despite the effects of the storm.
“I believe they're going to go out and vote, even if they have to crawl to a polling place,” Trump told Fox News' Laura Ingraham in an interview broadcast Monday. And that's what's happening.
Swannanoa residents walk through devastating flood damage from the Swannanoa River in western North Carolina on Sunday, September 29, 2024. (Travis Long/News & Observer/Tribune News Service)
The former president added that his daughter-in-law, who is co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is working to help North Carolinians in affected areas vote.
“Lara is working on it, other people are working on it, we're trying to make things easier for them, but they just lost their home,” Trump said.
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In-person early voting in the Old North state begins Thursday, Oct. 17, and ends Saturday, Nov. 2.
