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.

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.