North Carolina opens up early voting in shadow of Hurricane Helene

Early voting begins in the battleground state of North Carolina on Thursday, as the western part of the state still feels the impacts of Hurricane Helene’s flooding three weeks later.

More than 400 voting locations in the state’s 100 counties were expected to open Thursday for the early voting period, State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.

Only four of the 80 sites in western North Carolina hit hardest by the flooding will not be open.

Brinson Bell said at a press conference last week it’s harder to carry out elections through such devastation, but the state’s processes “are working” and election officials are “exercising what we know to do.”

Early voting is popular in the presidential swing state of North Carolina. It will run through Nov. 2.

Many areas in the western part of the state lost power, water, internet and cell service after historic flooding washed through the mountainous region.

Brinson Bell highlighted the state’s efforts, both in emergency response and election work, to prepare for Thursday’s early voting start date.

The arrival of Helene decimated some of Appalachia’s more remote towns and killed at least 246 people in across the Southeast. More than half of the storm-related deaths were in North Carolina, The Associated Press reported.

In the 2020 general election, more than 3.6 million ballots were cast during early voting in North Carolina, which was 65 percent of all ballots in the state, the AP reported.

Brinson Bell said she didn’t expect a decrease in the number of voters who cast their ballots early.

The state board of elections approved a slate of emergency measures that included tweaks to voting rules that would allow voters affected by the storm more time to request and deliver absentee ballots.

Voters can also turn in absentee ballots in counties other than their own. The new measures apply to 25 of the state’s 100 counties.

Counties were also able to modify early voting sites and timelines; for example, voting sites can be open on the weekend to allow more flexibility for voters.

Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump’s campaigns have made stops in North Carolina after the storms hit, knowing how important the state is in the upcoming election.

According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump has a 1 percentage point lead in the Tar Heel State based on an aggregation of polls.