North Carolina officials have altered voter procedures in the wake of Hurricane Helene causing widespread destruction in the key battleground state.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections issued an emergency declaration Monday altering North Carolina’s voter procedures in response to the devastation from Hurricane Helene. North Carolina § 163‑27.1 vests the Board with emergency powers in the event of “a natural disaster” or “extremely inclement weather.” The declaration authorizes county election boards in 13 affected counties to take a “bipartisan majority vote” on several measures.
Among these measures are changing or adding early voting sites, as well as the time said sites are available for voters, and moving one voting precinct’s space to be adjacent to another while keeping the voting and tabulation materials separate. Provisions are also to be made by county boards for accepting absentee ballots from close family members and designated legal guardians for precinct residents unable to turn them in themselves.
Such absentee ballots can be turned in at the voter’s county up to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the election. Alternatively, they can also be received via other counties’ precincts as long as they were turned into the county election board or the State Board by that time and transferred to the board of the voter’s county the day prior to the county canvass. Provisions for spoilage and reissuing of a ballot as well as ballot curing are referenced.
The declaration also allows county election boards to deploy “Multipartisan Assistance Teams” of registered North Carolina voters “to assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places where disaster relief is provided to the general public.”
Marshall, NC – September 30 : Ezra Fenland, 18, right, and other locals search for missing items from a nearby mechanics shop in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Marshall, North Carolina on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
More than 1,700 North Carolinians are unable to return home and are being sheltered through the organization’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, according to a Federal Emergency Management Administration press release from Monday.
Members of the State Election Board have touted the rule changes as necessary to prevent voter disenfranchisement, The Associated Press reported. Democratic Board Chairman Alan Hirsch said the Board was focused on meeting election deadlines while ensuring “no one is denied the right to vote because of these logistical problems.”
Republican board member Stacy Eggers IV said the rules are “tailored to give flexibility to the county boards to meet those specific needs.” (RELATED: ‘Excuse Me?’: Doocy Pushes Back At KJP As She Accuses Him Of Spreading ‘Misinformation’)
Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday that North Carolina is a state Republicans must win in November and suggested that his party ought to be involved with ensuring that sympathetic voters will not be disenfranchised.
“Why this is so important, 20,000 votes determined who won with Wisconsin,” McCarthy said. “And if President Trump doesn’t win North Carolina, he can’t win the Presidency. So why aren’t we ensuring that these votes? Is the ballot still there? Do they make sure they’re able to mail them in?”
NEW: Kevin McCarthy says Hurricane Helene could lose Trump the 2024 election, asks why no one is doing anything to protect western NC votes.
Ingraham: “Those 40k votes, there has to be court action to ensure that those people… get their votes counted.”
McCarthy: “20,000 votes… pic.twitter.com/wGVNfIkJ3T
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 5, 2024
The affected counties, with the exception of Buncombe County, voted for Trump in the 2020 election, The Washington Post noted. Trump won the state with less than 80,000 votes, his slimmest margin of victory in any state that year.
Helene will also allow many voters to circumvent the state’s photo ID requirements. North Carolina law allows voters to fill out a provisional ballot if they are unable to provide an ID due to a “natural disaster” that occurred within 100 days of election day, provided they fill out an affidavit beforehand.
