OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:22 PM – Tuesday, October 8, 2024
North Carolina’s election board has decided to give counties affected by Hurricane Helene more voting flexibility.
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On Monday, the North Carolina election board voted to provide those affected by the hurricane with greater flexibility to vote by mail and run their elections.
The changes will provide the 13 counties affected with more ways to obtain and deliver absentee ballots, while county boards will have more ability to modify their election administration plans.
The modifications will take effect 10 days before the battleground state’s early voting period opens and during the current mail-in voting period.
Instead of the Tuesday before Election Day, voters in those counties who wish to cast mail-in ballots can request and pick them up in person until November 4th, the day before the election.
Additionally, voters will be able to deposit their ballots at any county board of elections or polling place within their respective counties. Voters had previously been restricted to submitting their absentee ballots to their county’s board of elections or early voting locations.
The ballots will be counted if they are received by 7:30 p.m. ET on Election Day.
The emergency provisions will enable county boards to modify their early voting schedules and hours upon a bipartisan majority vote. Polling places may be relocated as needed, even into neighboring counties, if necessary.
According to state officials, some of the scheduled polling places are being used as warehouses and shelters for incoming sites, while others were damaged or rendered unusable by the storm.
The Friday deadline for registering to vote in the state was not extended. The state offers same-day voter registration during the early voting period, which runs from October 17th to November 2nd, giving displaced voters another chance to register if they missed the first deadline, according to Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections.
She also said that although the devastating storm has affected mail services, some ballots from North Carolina have been returned.
According to Brinson Bell, there are still five counties without delivery or retail services. Voters can keep track of their absentee ballots.
By a bipartisan majority vote, county boards will also have the authority to relocate and hire poll workers from other counties in order to guarantee that each polling place has an adequate number of seasoned workers.
In reaction to the hurricane, election officials in other states have also altered the procedure.
In order to give the 13 impacted counties more flexibility in managing voting and elections, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) issued an executive order that permits officials to transfer polling places and drop boxes as well as hire poll workers from other counties.
He also said that the state’s Monday voter registration deadline would not be extended.
South Carolina has also extended their voter registration to October 4th. Georgia officials say election operations are expected to continue normally.
According to The Associated Press, fewer than 700 Georgia ballots are still in the hands of voters in places where the post office is closed. In a briefing on Monday, officials stated that they are organizing alternative routes for those ballots to get to the voters.
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