Hurricane Helene upends election planning in some parts of North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina election officials said Tuesday that early voting would start as planned on Oct. 17, including in counties that were devastated by flooding from Hurricane Helene.

But they don't know how many early voting sites and Election Day polling places might be unusable in the swing state because of the storm.

"There may be polling places impacted by mudslides, there may be polling places inaccessible because of damaged roads, and there may be polling places with trees that have fallen on them," said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

North Carolina is still trying to assess the damage from Helene, which caused massive flooding in the mountainous western part of the state.

Twelve county elections offices were still closed because of the storm as of Tuesday evening. That means elections officials there can't process new registrations and they can't send out or receive mail ballots.

The state's registration deadline is Oct. 11 — though eligible voters can register in person at early voting sites during the early voting period, from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2.

Brinson Bell said she hopes to know by the end of the week whether any polling places need to be moved. She said it's possible the board could set up temporary early voting sites in tents in parking lots — something it did after Hurricane Dorian in eastern North Carolina in 2019.

She is confident the election will move forward as planned.

"It's not without consideration that I or someone else will go in that community and knock on doors if that's what it takes," she said.

Voting in a crucial swing state

North Carolina is considered one of seven swing states that could decide the presidential election. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris have made numerous visits to the state this year, and polls show it's a toss-up.

It's unclear how the storm will impact who turns out to vote.

One of the hardest-hit counties is Buncombe County, home to Asheville, which is a Democratic stronghold. But overall, most of the impacted counties are conservative and gave Trump large margins in the 2020 election.

Mail ballots are already out

North Carolinians have already started voting by mail. Generally, small shares of the state's voters cast mail ballots — in the 2022 election, just about 5% voted by mail.

The state elections board said about 250,000 mail ballots have already been sent out for the 2024 election. It didn't know how many of those ballots went to western North Carolina.

It's possible some of those ballots were washed away in the storm. Others are probably waiting in post offices, unable to be delivered. Postal service in the region is widely disrupted.

Brinson Bell said North Carolina voters can track the status of their mail ballots online, if they have internet access. They can request a new mail ballot and the state will void the old one, or they can simply ignore their requested mail ballot and vote in person.

The state's mail ballots were already delayed by more than two weeks after the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered the elections board to reprint ballots to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s name from the presidential race. The ballots were sent out in late September to voters who requested them.

In addition to the delay in getting mail ballots sent, there also is a tighter window for those ballots to be returned. The Republican-led General Assembly eliminated a three-day grace period for mail ballots to arrive after Election Day. For ballots to count, they must arrive at county elections boards by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. (Military ballots and ballots from overseas civilians can arrive later.)

Brinson Bell said she doesn't know whether she will ask state lawmakers to restore the three-day grace period.

She said it might make more sense to ask for more flexibility in where voters can return their mail ballots. Under current state law, voters can drop off mail ballots only at voting sites during early voting. She said she might seek permission to allow voters to drop off mail ballots at polling places on Election Day.

"[We're] seeing whether that's something that's more realistic and beneficial," she said.

Voters in affected counties do have more flexibility when it comes to the state's new voter identification requirements. According to the state elections board: "One of the permitted exceptions is for voters who are unable to provide ID because of a natural disaster that occurred within 100 days of an election. ... This means that voters in or from the 25 counties under a disaster declaration may use this exception to the photo ID requirement, if they are unable to show ID when voting because of the natural disaster."