{"id":2350145,"date":"2024-10-03T14:52:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T18:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-will-hurricane-destruction-hamper-voting-in-north-carolina\/"},"modified":"2024-10-03T14:54:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T18:54:52","slug":"how-will-hurricane-damage-affect-voting-in-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-will-hurricane-damage-affect-voting-in-north-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"How Will Hurricane Damage Affect Voting in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-will-hurricane-damage-affect-voting-in-north-carolina%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2350145&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In the wake of Hurricane Helene, recovery efforts \u2064in\u2063 western North\u200c Carolina \u2063coincide with \u2064ongoing preparations for an upcoming election, now less than \u200d40 days away. State and local officials from the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) are working to ensure that\u2063 voters in the 25 affected counties, which\u200d include a predominantly Republican electorate, can still cast their ballots \u2063amid\u2063 widespread damage, power \u200doutages, and disrupted internet \u2062access.<\/p>\n<p>As of October 1, more than 1.2\u200d million registered \u200dvoters in \u200cthese areas are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/you-cannot-make-this-up-dylan-mulvaney-named-woman-of-the-year\/\" title=\"Unbelievable: Dylan Mulvaney Named &#039;Woman of the Year&#039;\">facing\u200b challenges related<\/a> to the \u2062disaster, with concerns\u2063 that the NCSBE may exploit \u2062the situation to \u200bbypass election integrity laws. Some\u200d election\u2063 integrity advocates\u2062 worry that \u200cemergency measures \u200ccould undermine safeguards\u200b established to \u2062protect the election process.<\/p>\n<p>To accommodate\u2063 voting, the \u2063NCSBE has allowed for the extension of absentee ballot requests \u200cand has\u2063 relaxed certain ID requirements, \u200bpermitting \u2064voters\u200b to utilize an exception to the photo ID\u2063 requirement. Voters displaced by the hurricane can also \u200crequest their absentee ballots to be sent to new addresses. However, the \u200bNCSBE emphasizes the importance of maintaining security\u2064 and oversight \u2064during this period, with proposals\u2064 for ensuring election integrity amidst \u200dnecessary adjustments.<\/p>\n<p>Communication\u200b with poll \u200bworkers poses another challenge due to limited connectivity, and some election offices are currently inoperative due to hurricane \u200bdamage. The NCSBE continues to adapt its plans, including the provision of \u200dresources to assist county officials in managing the election \u2063process effectively. As\u2062 the \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-campaign-predicts-tight-general-election\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s campaign expects a close general election.\">election draws \u200dnearer<\/a>, the\u200b focus remains on balancing the need\u200d for accessibility \u200bwith\u2063 the preservation of \u2064election\u2064 integrity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While recovery efforts continue in western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, state and local election officials are scrambling to find ways to conduct an election &mdash; which is fewer than 40 days away &mdash; amid the damage, power outages, and lack of internet access in the crucial swing state.<\/p>\n<p>The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/north-carolina-state-board-of-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat-run<\/a> institution that has a history of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-hope-i-scared-the-sht-out-of-you-bill-maher-warns-of-slow-moving-coup-that-could-put-trump-back-in-power\/\" title=\"\u2018I Hope I Scared The Sh*t Out Of You:\u2019 Bill Maher Warns Of \u2018Slow-Moving Coup\u2019 That Could Put Trump Back In Power\">undermining election integrity<\/a>, met in the past week to lay out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initial responses<\/a> to how the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/voting\/upcoming-election\/helene-recovery-and-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">25 counties and eastern Cherokee tribal areas<\/a> under disaster declaration can cast ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, 1,275,054 total <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/voting\/upcoming-election\/helene-recovery-and-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">registered voters<\/a> in the 25 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncleg.gov\/Redistricting\/AffiliationMaps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">primarily red<\/a> counties are affected by the disaster as of Oct. 1, with the largest number of affected affiliated voters (more than 480,000) being Republican. Another nearly one million voters are unaffiliated, and the area has just under 300,000 registered Democrats, according to the NCSBE.<\/p>\n<p>While certain contingencies and deviations from the norm will likely be required to ensure the deep-red portion of the state can vote, some election integrity leaders in the state are concerned the NCSBE could take advantage of the disaster to circumvent protections for the election.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[W]e know they can be counted on [to] use the emergency as an excuse to subvert any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-ag-praises-scotus-ruling-protecting-election-laws-a-win-for-election-integrity-across-the-country\/\" title=\"Arizona AG Praises SCOTUS Ruling Protecting Election Laws: \u2018A Win For Election Integrity \u2026 Across The Country\u2019\">election integrity safeguards<\/a> written into the law,&rdquo; Jay DeLancy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/just-in-floyd-county-georgia-terminates-election-director-after-statewide-audit-discovers-uncounted-votes\/\" title=\"JUST IN: Floyd County, Georgia Terminates Election Director After Statewide Audit Discovers Uncounted Votes\">executive director<\/a> of the Voter Integrity Project of North Carolina, told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a> to the NCSBE, election officials are not currently aware of &ldquo;any situations where voting equipment or printed ballots were lost or damaged.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The NCSBE has laid out some initial steps for how western North Carolinians can vote. The state allows voters to request absentee ballots for any reason, <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Absentee\/mail-in_voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">without excuse<\/a>, and those in the disaster declaration zone have already requested 38,628 as of Oct. 1, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/voting\/upcoming-election\/helene-recovery-and-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">data<\/a> from the NCSBE. So far, only 998 have been returned, leaving a wide margin unaccounted for &mdash; and potentially lost in the storm.<\/p>\n<p>However, NCSBE leadership has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that voters in the area who already requested a ballot will not be required to use them and can vote in-person during the early voting period, which starts Oct. 17 and ends Nov. 2. They can also vote in-person on Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Postal Service has suspended mail delivery in &ldquo;dozens&rdquo; of post offices across the region, according to the NCSBE, and many residential mailboxes &ldquo;likely have been washed away by the storm.&rdquo; NCSBE General Counsel Paul Cox said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wral.com\/video\/will-helene-impact-voting-in-nc-state-has-answers\/21652312\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press briefing<\/a> on Tuesday that voters will now be able to request an absentee ballot in a new location, even if it is in a different county.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If a person is displaced, they can request an absentee ballot be delivered to their new location,&rdquo; Cox said. &ldquo;So for example, if someone had to leave their home in one of the mountain counties, and has moved to another location in a different county, or even in the same county, they can request that their absentee ballot be delivered to that new location.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If the person has already requested an absentee ballot, they can change where it&rsquo;s going to be sent,&rdquo; Cox continued, noting how, in this case, voters are to &ldquo;contact their county board of elections, ask them to spoil&rdquo; &mdash; or effectively &ldquo;delete&rdquo; &mdash; &ldquo;their current ballot,&rdquo; and &ldquo;reissue a ballot to [the] new location.&rdquo; He indicated a website voters can visit to request absentee ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Normally, North Carolina county elections boards would need to hold meetings &ldquo;beginning on the fifth Tuesday before Election Day&rdquo; to review absentee ballots, but the NCSBE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a> a draft <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/dl.ncsbe.gov\/State_Board_Meeting_Docs\/2024-09-30\/DRAFT%20September%2030%202024%20SBE%20Emergency%20Resolution.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resolution<\/a> Monday allowing affected counties to delay those meetings until &ldquo;practicable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Voters in the region will also likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not be<\/a> required to produce a photo ID when voting, which is normally required both for in-person and mail-in voting. &ldquo;Under state law,&rdquo; voters &ldquo;who cannot provide an acceptable form of ID&rdquo; when voting can &ldquo;fill out a Photo ID Exception Form,&rdquo; the NSCBE clarifies, noting how the ID requirement already includes a contingency permitting an exception for natural disasters that occur &ldquo;within 100 days of an election.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[V]oters 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,&rdquo; according to the NCSBE.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Womack, president of the North Carolina Election Integrity Team, compiled an action proposal for state legislators focused on ensuring that election integrity safeguards are not thrown out with the NCBSE&rsquo;s response plan.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[T]he temporary rules applied for the disaster-stricken&nbsp;counties must preserve the security&nbsp;of the voting process with proper checks and oversight,&rdquo; he wrote in the message to lawmakers obtained by The Federalist:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here are some election security provisions that should not be compromised in the interest in protecting the overall integrity of the election:&nbsp; (1) Continue to enforce Voter ID (make provisions for reissuing an ID for those who need one and otherwise require voters to use a provisional ballot as required by law for the reasonable impediment purpose); (2) Do NOT employ dropboxes for gathering ballots in the affected counties (these dropboxes are vulnerable to fraud and do not assure chain of custody of voted ballots); (3) If equipment shortages persist, consider employing the traditional use of paper ballots and employ time-tested methods for hand counting the results, closely observed by partisan observers from both major parties on election night; and (4) Do NOT induce risk of corrupting the vote by extending the times\/dates for accepting absentee ballots beyond&nbsp;7:30PM on election night.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>DeLancy expressed agreement with these proposals from Womack in a statement to The Federalist, but suggested adding &ldquo;one more action &hellip; in light of the USPS decision to halt services.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The SBE should ask the postal service to reroute any County Board of Elections mail to the State Board of Elections, so they can process absentee ballots in a timely manner,&rdquo; he suggested.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>NCSBE Executive Director Karen Bell told members of the media in a Tuesday press call that having adequate communication with poll workers will be a challenge, as cell service and other means of contact with poll workers and county officials are limited. While nothing has been decided yet, Bell also said the NCSBE might soon be considering whether implementing emergency authority to expand who can be a poll worker is warranted. Bell suggested in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wral.com\/video\/will-helene-impact-voting-in-nc-state-has-answers\/21652312\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">briefing<\/a> it was &ldquo;too soon to say&rdquo; if the situation will have a &ldquo;negative impact&rdquo; on issues like &ldquo;the number of [poll] workers,&rdquo; but expressed confidence in North Carolinians in the affected area and their ability to &ldquo;answer the call.&rdquo; (In his proposal, Womack recommended that North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, consider diverting trained workers to the western part of the state, including using North Carolina National Guard personnel to help with the process.) <\/p>\n<p>Some county election offices are currently closed or left with &ldquo;limited accessibility&rdquo; due to damage from the hurricane, but the NCSBE has tool kits they call &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">election offices in a box<\/a>&rdquo; county officials can use to set up operations, including absentee ballot request processing and voter registrations. The NCSBE set up a separate page for voters to be &ldquo;updated routinely&rdquo; as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/voting\/upcoming-election\/helene-recovery-and-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">developments<\/a> from the situation emerge, including county office closures. The NCSBE also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/09\/30\/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indicated<\/a> it &ldquo;will provide regular updates through media interviews, press releases, [and] social media posts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Helene is not the first hurricane that has impacted an election in North Carolina. Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2019\/09\/06\/order-extends-early-voting-counties-affected-hurricane-dorian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hurricane Dorian<\/a> in 2019 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2016\/10\/13\/state-board-responds-hurricane-matthew\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hurricane Matthew<\/a> in 2016 affected election operations in the state, though both were Atlantic Coast storms and did not affect the deep red mountain region, which &mdash; because it is not typically hit hard by storms of this magnitude &mdash; now faces some different logistical challenges.<\/p>\n<p>On the press call, Bell said she remembers having polling locations in tents and other temporary facilities in the fallout of previous storms and seemed to suggest such options are not off the table in 2024, either.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Election officials in NC face challenges post-Hurricane Helene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2350146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1280px-Vote_Here_-_Election_Polling_Place_50565230221-2-e1720467377404.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[42159,40264,16197,32258,4351],"class_list":["post-2350145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-disaster-response","tag-election-impact","tag-hurricane","tag-north-carolina","tag-voting"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1280px-Vote_Here_-_Election_Polling_Place_50565230221-2-e1720467377404.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2350145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2350146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2350145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2350145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2350145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}