North Carolina’s state board of elections official warned the state faces challenges going into the presidential election.
North Carolina, a critical swing state, faces a “daunting” election as the state continues to grapple with unprecedented challenges brought by Hurricane Helene, according to an election official on Tuesday.
Helene made landfall last Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of around 140 miles per hour near Perry, Florida, in the state’s Big Bend region. The storm brought fatalities across several southern and southeastern states with storm surges, devastating winds and torrential rain that threatened several dams and flooded Asheville, North Carolina. Days later, damage and devastation remain as North Carolina grapples with floodwaters.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, will face off against former president Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, in the presidential election in just over a month.
With early in-person voting set to start in just over two weeks, and absentee ballots already mailed to some voters, election offices across 12 counties in the hard-hit western part of North Carolina remain closed as election officials are working urgently to address the damage.
Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of North Carolina’s state board of elections, acknowledged the enormity of the situation as she warned the state faces a “daunting” election amid this “level of uncertainty” as viability of early and Election Day voting sites remains unknown.
