Hurricane Helene hampers early voting efforts in North Carolina

Early voting in North Carolina is facing hurdles as the impacts of Hurricane Helene continue to devastate communities in the Southeast, blocking roads and disrupting services across the state.

The start of mail-in voting in the key state of North Carolina had already been delayed by courts that ruled ballots must be reprinted without the option of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

Even before the devastating hurricane, all eyes were on North Carolina as it emerged as one of the key swing states of this election, with recent polling from CNN showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump virtually tied among likely voters in the state. A heated gubernatorial battle between state Attorney General Josh Stein and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is also taking place in Tar Heel State.

“While we do not know exactly what is ahead, our guiding force between now and Election Day will be to do everything possible to ensure every eligible North Carolina voter can cast their ballot,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a statement. “Natural disasters have affected elections here in the recent past. As we did at those times, we will conduct a safe, secure, and successful election in 2024.”

The US Postal Service issued an alert stating that operations in certain ZIP codes would be paused, which could further hamper voter efforts to cast their ballots by mail.

Absentee ballots were mailed out on September 24 to state residents who had requested them.

“The safety of our customers and employees is the Postal Service’s top priority in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” the US Postal Service said in a statement. “The Postal Service is committed to delivering each piece of mail where it is safe to do so and where roads are passable. As we continue our work on this, we will continue to communicate with local boards of election in impacted areas to ensure the ongoing transport and delivery of Election Mail as soon as it is safe to do so.”

At an emergency board meeting on Monday, Bell said 14 of the 22 counties the board was in contact with were closed, with “several more days of closure” anticipated.

“Our field specialist, who lives in Buncombe County and serves most of these counties, actually even had to walk to the county office today from his home, which we figured out is probably about a 4- or 5-mile trek to be able to be of assistance to the counties and have access to some services,” she said.

Only Haywood County had not given a status report, Bell said, noting that many of the county personnel are experiencing difficulties with internet, water, power and damaged roads. As of Monday afternoon, Haywood County’s election website is not functioning, and CNN has reached out to the county but has not received a response.

Buncombe County, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and encompassing the city of Asheville, was one of the most heavily affected by the havoc wreaked by the hurricane. However, the post office is still in operation and voters can submit their ballots there, according to county election officials.

“Buncombe County remains in a response-and-recovery effort and is focusing on life safety and basic needs,” said Corinne Duncan, director of elections at Buncombe County. “The post office is running and we dropped 200 ballots in the mail today.”

Duncan added that county election facilities were not damaged and have power, but some staff and board members are stranded due to road blockages. The county has not completed assessments to polling locations yet, and the offices do not have water.