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Will Hurricane Helene Affect Voting?

Election officials are working to overcome challenges in storm-ravaged states

By

Natalie Missakian,

 
AARP
Comments
Published October 04, 2024
Illustration of people on line to vote and a hurricane blocking the voting booth
AARP (Source: Getty Images (3))

Hurricane Helene battered the Southeast late last month just as voters were registering and applying for absentee ballots, including in the key battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia, which could determine the outcome of the presidential election.

Election officials from Florida to the Carolinas have been working to assess damage, minimize disruptions and get information out to voters amid widespread power outages, flooding and destruction from Helene.

As of Oct. 3, nine county election offices remained closed in western North Carolina, which bore the brunt of the damage.

North Carolina election officials are continuing to assess the damage and consider possible remedies but are working hard to ensure every eligible voter can cast a ballot, State Board of Elections Director Kristen Bell said during a press conference Wednesday. Early in-person voting begins Oct. 17.

“We’re not going to stop how we do elections just because there’s been a hurricane. We might have to do it a little differently, but we’re going to proceed,” she said.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger said in a statement that he expects early voting to begin as planned on Oct. 15, although some locations may change in affected counties.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis gave county election supervisors more flexibility to change voting locations and loosened some voting-by-mail ballot rules to accommodate displaced voters.

In South Carolina, the voter registration deadline has been extended to Oct. 14 following a court order Friday.

Here is a rundown of what election officials are doing in states recovering from Helene. AARP will also keep its state election guides updated with the latest information.

Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Thursday allowing election officials in the worst-hit counties to change early voting sites and consolidate voting centers, among other changes. Voters displaced by the storm may also request a vote-by-mail ballot at their new location. Voters should contact their county Supervisor of Elections Office for more information. 

“Like the 2022 election after Hurricane Ian, this upcoming election will not be disrupted by Hurricane Helene,” DeSantis said on his Facebook page.

Georgia

State election officials are continuing to assess damage to county election offices but expect the physical infrastructure needed to conduct an election will be fully operational when in-person voting begins Oct. 15. The secretary of state's website has tips for voting after Helene. Oct. 7 is the last day to register to vote.

Any counties having to relocate early voting locations will notify voters through the My Voter Page election portal and radio, television and social media outlets, Raffensberger said in a statement Wednesday. 

“My office is working hard to make sure the election workers in the affected counties are safe, that their equipment is undamaged and secure, and that their early voting locations will be functional by the time early voting starts,” Raffensberger said. 

North Carolina

The state elections board has set up a website to help affected voters get the latest information about casting a ballot, including how displaced voters can get an absentee ballot sent to their new location and what voters can do if they’ve lost their photo ID because of the storm.

As of Thursday, nine county election offices remained closed. State election officials have provided special emergency kits, known as “election offices in a box,” to those offices without phone or internet access so they can continue processing voter registration and absentee ballot requests, according to Bell.

The board is working with counties to determine if any early voting centers or polling places need to be merged or relocated.

“What we aren’t clear on yet is whether all the facilities are usable,” Bell said in the Wednesday press call, noting some may be impacted by road closures or downed trees. “It’s really just too soon to know, but it is our intent to open early voting in all 100 counties on Oct. 17.”

South Carolina

Some county election offices remained closed as of Friday morning. The deadline to register to vote has been extended to Oct. 14 after a court order Friday. The extension applies to online, mail or in-person voting.

“If your county has remained closed because of the storm then the easiest way to get registered is by doing it online at scVOTES.gov,” John Catalano, spokesman for the South Carolina State Election Commission, said in an email.

Changes to some early voting centers and polling locations are expected, he said. Voters should check the South Carolina Election Commission’s website for updates on early voting locations and can use MyscVotes to check their polling place on Election Day.

Tennessee

With early voting set to begin Oct. 16, officials are working to assess flooding damage to election facilities, Doug Kufner, a spokesman for the Tennessee secretary of state’s office, told The Tennessean in Nashville.

As of Oct. 1, at least six polling locations and two county election offices were damaged or inaccessible, the newspaper reported.

“The election community in Tennessee is united. When one hurts, we all hurt. The heartache, shock and devastation are massive,” Kufner told The Tennessean. “However, we are confident that the challenges caused by the flooding will be overcome because of the planning and resilience of election officials in the impacted counties.”

Virginia

Although some voter registration offices in the state closed temporarily because of power outages, all election offices were open as of noon Sept. 30, said Andrea Gaines, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Elections.

See AARP’s state election guides for more information about absentee voting, ID requirements, registration and more in your state, and keep up with AARP’s election coverage.

Natalie Missakian covers federal and state policy and writes AARP’s Fighting for You Every Day blog. She previously worked as a reporter for the New Haven Register and daily newspapers in Ohio. She has also written for the AARP Bulletin, the Hartford Business Journal and other publications.

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