North Carolina’s election board voted Monday to give residents in the western part of the state, which was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene, greater flexibility to vote by mail and run their elections.
Voters in 13 counties heavily affected by the storm will have more ways to obtain and deliver absentee ballots, while county boards will have more ability to modify their election administration plans. The changes, approved by unanimous vote of the bipartisan board, come 10 days before early voting begins in the battleground state and as mail voting is already underway.
Voters in those counties who want to cast ballots by mail will be able to request and receive them in person until Nov. 4, the day before Election Day, rather than the Tuesday before, under the usual rules. They will also be able to drop off their ballots at any county board of elections in the state or any polling sites in their counties. Previously, voters were limited to dropping absentee ballots off at the board of elections or early voting sites in their counties.
The ballots will be counted if they are received by 7:30 p.m. ET on Election Day.
The emergency provisions will allow county boards, with bipartisan majority votes, to change their early voting hours and schedules if necessary. They will be able to move polling sites as necessary and even move them into other counties if necessary.
Some of the planned voting sites are being used as shelters and warehouses for incoming sites, state officials said, while others were damaged or made inaccessible by the storm.
The state’s voter registration deadline of Friday was not extended. Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said that was because the state has same-day voter registration during the early voting period from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2, which gives displaced voters another option to register if they missed the first deadline.
The storm damaged some North Carolina ballots, Brinson Bell said, but others have been returned despite the effect the devastating storm has had on mail services. Five counties still have no retail or delivery service. Brinson Bell added that voters have the ability to track their absentee ballots.
County boards will also be able to, by bipartisan majority votes, hire poll workers from other counties and move them around to ensure there are enough experienced workers at each voting site.
Officials in other states have also made changes to the voting process in response to the hurricane.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order to give 13 affected counties flexibility in voting and election administration, including allowing officials to move polling sites and drop boxes and hire poll workers from other counties. He declined to extend the deadline for voter registration in the state, which is Monday.
South Carolina extended its voter registration deadline to Oct. 14, while Georgia officials say election operations are expected to continue smoothly.
Fewer than 700 Georgia ballots are caught up in areas where the local post offices are closed, The Associated Press reported. Officials said in a briefing Monday they are working to arrange other ways for those ballots to reach their voters.
