Officials in North Carolina, Georgia say Helene will not derail voting in presidential election

(WASHINGTON) — Election officials in Georgia and North Carolina said Monday that voting from their states in the presidential election in November will not be derailed by the damage left by Hurricane Helene even as crews continue to search for victims.

Though parts of the two states were devastated by the hurricane, election officials said they are working on plans to assure that every ballot cast for the Nov. 5 election will be counted.

“What has been on everyone’s mind is what will happen to elections,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference Monday. “Good news: Absentee ballots are going out this week as scheduled, and early voting will start next Tuesday, on Oct. 15.”

Raffensperger said that while Helene caused widespread damage and power outages in his state, he does not expect there to be any major disruptions to the general election. He said election offices and voting equipment in the state’s 159 counties escaped serious damage.

Blake Evans, elections director for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said county officials are assessing about 2,400 polling locations. So far, just three will have to be changed because of storm damage, he added.

In North Carolina, the state’s Board of Elections unanimously approved on Monday a measure that would broaden the authority of local election officials in the counties most impacted by the disaster.

The approved measure will allow election officials in 13 of the hardest-hit North Carolina counties to make changes to voting sites, access emergency supplies and deploy teams to assist with absentee voting at disaster shelters ahead of early voting commencing on Oct. 17.

“We are committed to ensuring that we open early voting on the 17th in all 100 counties, including these affected counties. It may look a little different in these affected counties, but we fully intend to offer early voting starting on the 17th,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections.

As of Monday, every county election office in North Carolina was opened, according to Bell, compared to last week when 14 of those offices were closed due to the storm. Bell thanked local election officials throughout the state for working to get their offices online while facing “personal struggles” including damage to their homes, transportation issues and a lack of basic utilities.

“What a difference a week makes … this is just quite the feat,” Bell said. “Our struggles are not over, and that is why we need the Board to take action to give the flexibility necessary to carry out these elections, and to be of the best service to the voters that we can be.”

She told reporters Monday that authorities could bring in National Guard tents or FEMA trailers to act as polling locations, and she insisted that it can be done securely and safely.

“It’s not as spacious as your normal polling location, but it does provide the space necessary at the existing voting site if the parking lot [of a polling site is] still accessible,” she said. “[And] even in a temporary structure we can still maintain security of the voting equipment and safety of our workers.”

In Yancey County, North Carolina, Board of Elections Director Mary Beth Tipton told ABC News that officials are still assessing how many of the county’s 11 polling sites would be operational by Election Day. Most of the other polling sites are in schools and fire stations, which are currently being used as shelters and emergency relief sites, and two election stations were severely damaged by flood waters.

“There are some of them that don’t even exist anymore,” Tipton said.

One of the hardest-hit counties was Buncombe County, which sustained historic flooding. The county includes Asheville, the eleventh-largest city in the state.

As of Monday, 67,000 utility customers remained without electricity and a large part of Buncombe County was without running water due to major damage to the water system and its water treatment plant, officials said. Recovery crews continued to search massive piles of debris for 60 people who remain unaccounted for, officials said.

“I’m here to reassure our community that Buncombe County will vote,” Corinne Duncan, the director of Buncombe County Election Services, said at a news conference Monday.

Duncan said she was concerned that some polling places would have to be changed due to the lack of water or power. She said most of the election offices and voting equipment were spared by the storm, but officials are working to “strategize and modify plans” to make sure anyone who wants to vote can do so.

She said officials are trying to get in touch with polling workers for training to make sure polling stations are staffed. As of now, early voting will begin as planned in Buncombe County and residents still have until Oct. 11 to register to vote, Duncan said.

“We are assessing what voting locations are available,” said Duncan, adding, “We must respect the gravity of our situation.”