October 9 :
North Carolina, a key battleground state, altered its voting procedures on Monday to make it simpler for residents in hurricane-ravaged regions to cast their ballots in the upcoming U.S. presidential election on November 5. Local election officials will have more leeway thanks to the measures passed unanimously by the North Carolina State Board of Elections to make sure that people in the western, mountainous section of the state may vote despite the continued disruption of roads and communications networks.
The goal, according to Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the board, is to make sure that all parts of the state will have the same voting options, whether it's early in person starting on Oct. 17, by mail, or on Election Day. The outcome of the upcoming presidential election is anticipated to be decided in seven states, including North Carolina, by Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The two contenders are neck and neck in the polls.
More than 200 people were murdered across six states by Hurricane Helene, which particularly impacted the mountainous western region of North Carolina. Untold thousands of people are still unable to reach outside help since numerous highways in the area are still inaccessible.
As a result of the modifications that the five-member election board authorized, outreach teams in thirteen of the most devastated counties would be able to visit places like disaster shelters to assist voters in casting their ballots.
According to Paul Cox, general counsel for North Carolina’s State Board of Elections, preliminary feedback indicates that perhaps nine or ten early voting facilities had experienced either major damage and accessibility concerns or were uncertain about their availability when early voting began. Even in the most devastated counties, there are dozens of early polling locations around the state. Several early voting locations are being utilized as makeshift shelters or supply depots, according to Brinson Bell.
She went on to say that beginning on October 17 and continuing until November 2, with possible shifts in dates or hours, the state expects every county to have at least one early voting location open. "Early voting may look different than expected in some of the 13 hardest-hit counties, but it will go on," Bell said in an interview.
Early voting hours and locations, as well as staffing arrangements, could be adjusted by the thirteen hardest-hit counties. Additionally, under the proposed revisions, voters would no longer be restricted to a certain number of sites to cast their absentee ballots; instead, they would be able to do so at any polling place on Election Day.
Stacy Eggers IV, a Republican board member from the hurricane-ravaged western mountain hamlet of Boone, stated, "We will continue to make voting accessible to the voters whether we need four-wheelers, horses or helicopters." So said the storm.
