Helene: Hard-hit 13 mountain counties turning out early to vote

(The Center Square) – Only one of 13 counties in the North Carolina mountains identified as worst hit by the State Board of Elections has not accepted at least 10% of registered voters’ ballots after three days of early in-person voting.

Rightly feared as a region where voter turnout could be impacted by Hurricane Helene’s devastation, the counties represent 601,999 registrants as of Saturday. More than 69,000, or 11.5%, have already cast a ballot, and 62,890 of them – 10.4% – did it in person on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

Sunday afternoon, DriveNC.org was reporting 493 road closures tied to the storm which came ashore in the Big Bend of Florida on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane. Its remnants settled over the Blue Ridge Mountains in the state, and 416 secondary roads remain closed by a storm that has killed 95.

Lawmakers in Raleigh added a dozen more counties to the list to make 25 in all granted ability to make needed changes as recovery from Helene continues. Absentee by mail ballots went out in September, and this week’s in-person option lasts through the Saturday before Election Day.

Same-day registration can be done.

At a campaign stop in the eastern part of the state on Friday, Republican attorney general candidate Dan Bishop – departing the U.S. House, as is his Democratic opponent Jeff Jackson – said there’s indications voters will find a way to get to the polls. Early numbers from the State Board of Elections back him up.

The nation’s eyes are watching, given the state’s bullseye for campaigning by presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. In Greenville alone, Harris came Oct. 13, former President Bill Clinton on Saturday, and Trump arrives Monday.

Bishop said feedback has been consistent. He said truckloads of supplies and private helicopter airlift operations are “the most amazing thing I’ve seen.” He also expressed disappointment with government, naming the Federal Emergency Management Agency and North Carolina Emergency Management.

“I think they’re gaining on it. There are some bright spots,” Bishop said. “The North Carolina Department of Transportation is on the way to doing great stuff up there. All of those things – you’re right, life and limb take precedence over elections.

“But I will say this – the situation I just described has inspired a lot of people. I saw one report, one county I won’t specify, had record turnout on the first day of early voting. So, people are also very interested in expressing their views, their voice through their vote, in order to have more common sense prevail like those private relief operations and to see our government response be quick and get the job done. I think folks up there have that very much on their mind.”

Few prognosticators believe the White House can be won without either Pennsylvania or North Carolina, and the winner just might need both. The former has 19 electoral college votes, the latter 16.

The election board unanimously approved a list of emergency measures for Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey counties.

Enabling the relief to match the federal disaster declaration, the Legislature unanimously added Alexander, Alleghany, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon and Wilkes counties.

Of the 13 identified by the state board, only Rutherford County at 8.4% is below double figures turnout early. The top end is 17.1% in Polk, 16.1% in Transylvania and 14.2% in Haywood – the latter’s 6,752 being the largest volume of the three.

Hard-hit Buncombe County, with more than twice as many registered voters as any of the other dozen counties, has had 22,145 vote early (10.2%), including 19,687 in person (9.1%).

Across the 13 counties, total early voting turnout is 11.5%, including 10.4% for doing so in person.

Turnout statewide for the 2020 presidential election cycle was better than 75%.