In the wake of the catastrophic damage caused by back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton, North Carolina and Florida will be adjusting certain voting procedures to allow impacted citizens more time and flexibility to cast ballots.
The dual storms have caused untold damages and claimed hundreds of lives already, leaving many in the impacted areas focusing on staying alive and not the upcoming presidential election.
Officials in both states are concerned the result will be a low voter turnout in what is to be a very close election, Axios reported Thursday.
While Florida has pivoted to being a relatively safe state for Republicans in the past four years, North Carolina remains a critical battleground state that both candidates are eager to capture.
The changes are said to include adjusting early voting days and offering increased flexibility with some voting locations.
The events of the past two weeks have also seen Republicans ease their previously skeptical stance on mail-in voting. The outlet noted 8% of eligible voters in North Carolina are in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Lawmakers in the Tar Heel State on Wednesday approved legislation to give $5 million to the State Board of Elections for post-storm administrative costs. The board also is permitting any voter in the county who is unable to reach their Election Day voting site to cast a ballot at the county's election office.
"There is and should be real concern that if we don't get this right, we'll see really big drop-offs in turnout," Kevin Morris, senior research fellow and voting policy scholar with the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, told to the outlet.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order authorizing some election changes in the hardest-hit counties. In addition to easing some rules for mail-in ballots, the new order allows election supervisors to consolidate voting centers or relocate them to an alternate site if a polling location has been destroyed.
Last week, South Carolina extending its voter registration by eight days in an effort to allow those affected citizens that have not yet voted additional time for in-person, online and mail-in applications.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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