RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Voters in western North Carolina affected by the devastation of Hurricane Helene could see several changes in the coming weeks to how they can cast their ballots after the state Board of Elections issued an emergency resolution has approved changes to the voting rules.
The resolution, which was unanimously adopted Monday by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which has both Democratic and Republican members, comes less than two weeks after Helene devastated large swathes of western North Carolina — displacing residents, damaging homes and roads were washed away.
In a crucial presidential election that could hinge on how the battleground state swings, this widespread disruption also poses major problems for how residents can cast their votes by November 5.
Still, the board reiterated several times during Monday’s meeting that it had committed to early voting and that Election Day would occur as scheduled across the state, while also ensuring that “no one is denied the right to vote because of these logistics problems,” the board said. Chairman Alan Hirsch, a Democrat.
“In general, I am very hesitant to make any changes to the normal conduct of our elections,” said Republican member Stacy Eggers IV, who is from Boone in western North Carolina. “But these are tailored to give provincial governments the flexibility to meet those specific needs.”
The resolution outlines 13 counties in western North Carolina with polling places or postal services that have been “severely disrupted” by Helene, either due to damage, inaccessibility, use of emergency response sites or lack of staff. As of Monday, all county election offices were open, Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.
One of the biggest changes in the resolution allows voters to return their absentee ballots before 7:30 p.m. at Election Day polling places operated by their county board of elections. Displaced voters can also submit their ballot to the election board of another province within the same period. Previously, voters could only return absentee ballots to their county election board or state election board on Election Day.
The resolution also expands the ability to pick up an absentee ballot in person at a county elections office up to the day before the election.
The distribution of absentee ballots was already having problems before Helene reached North Carolina. A legal battle over whether the name of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be included on the ballots after he suspended his presidential campaign — which ultimately resulted in his name being removed and the ballots reprinted — caused a delay of about two weeks in September.
With a bipartisan majority vote, provincial election boards in affected areas can approve various changes to polling locations on Election Day. Measures that could be considered — which would require approval from the state board’s executive director — include transferring voters to other precincts in the county, creating out-of-precinct polling places in other counties and setting up multiple voting locations within a county. district.
Likewise, those boards can also make changes to early voting locations affected by the storm. These changes may include adding new sites or removing inaccessible sites, as well as adjusting site hours.
Voters in the area must be notified of changes by mail, according to the resolution. Boards must also share the changes with local media, political parties in the province and on their provincial website.
To address a potential shortage of poll workers, counties are authorized to select election officials from other counties registered to vote in North Carolina. Assistance teams may also be deployed to emergency shelters to assist voters with absentee voting.
Despite calls from civil rights groups to extend voter registration deadlines in states affected by Helene, the resolution did not include a measure to do so. That decision, along with possible adjustments to what the state board approved, will be left up to the state Legislature when it reconvenes Wednesday to pass disaster relief legislation.
In the coming weeks, Bell said the administration may need to consider further action as affected counties continue to experience disruptions during Election Day.
