North Carolina officials have made adjustments to voter procedures following the significant damage caused by Hurricane Helene, particularly in the key battleground state.

On Monday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections issued an emergency declaration, invoking its authority under state law (§ 163‑27.1) to modify election processes during events such as natural disasters or extreme weather.

The changes apply to 13 counties that were hit hardest by the storm.

The emergency measures allow county election boards to take several actions, provided they receive a bipartisan majority vote.

These actions include changing or adding early voting sites and adjusting the hours that those sites are available to voters. Additionally, county boards are now permitted to move voting precincts and set up adjacent spaces while maintaining separate voting and tabulation materials for each.

The new rules also include provisions for absentee ballots. Voters who are unable to submit their absentee ballots personally can have them turned in by close family members or legal guardians.

The ballots can be submitted at the voter’s home county up until 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Election Day.

Additionally, absentee ballots can be accepted in neighboring counties, as long as they are transferred to the correct county before the county canvass.

To assist displaced voters, the declaration authorizes the deployment of “Multipartisan Assistance Teams” made up of registered North Carolina voters.

These teams are tasked with helping citizens in disaster shelters and other public relief areas with absentee ballot requests and voting procedures.

According to a statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), over 1,700 North Carolinians remain in shelters through the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

The changes are designed to ensure that voters affected by the disaster are not disenfranchised.

Democratic State Board Chairman Alan Hirsch emphasized the importance of meeting election deadlines while protecting voters’ rights, stating that the Board’s focus is to ensure “no one is denied the right to vote because of these logistical problems.”

Republican board member Stacy Eggers IV echoed the sentiment, adding that the new rules provide flexibility for counties to address specific needs caused by the disaster.

The altered voting procedures are particularly significant in a state as politically important as North Carolina.

Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emphasized the importance of North Carolina for the GOP in the upcoming election, noting that “if President Trump doesn’t win North Carolina, he can’t win the Presidency.”

NEW: Kevin McCarthy says Hurricane Helene could lose Trump the 2024 election, asks why no one is doing anything to protect western NC votes.

Ingraham: “Those 40k votes, there has to be court action to ensure that those people… get their votes counted.”

McCarthy: “20,000 votes… pic.twitter.com/wGVNfIkJ3T

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 5, 2024

Most of the counties affected by the storm, with the exception of Buncombe County, voted for Trump in 2020.

Trump won the state by fewer than 80,000 votes, making it one of his narrowest victories.

The modifications in voting procedures are expected to impact this year’s election significantly, particularly in light of the state’s critical role as a swing state.

Additionally, voters in the affected counties may be able to bypass the state’s photo ID requirement.

North Carolina law permits voters to cast provisional ballots if they cannot provide an ID due to a natural disaster that occurred within 100 days of the election, provided they complete an affidavit.

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