North Carolina board of elections votes to ease voting rules in counties severely affected by Hurricane Helene

Voters in 13 counties hardest hit in North Carolina by Hurricane Helene will find it easier to vote after a resolution was passed unanimously by the elections board on Monday.

Early voting is set to begin in 10 days in North Carolina, and mail-in voting has already commenced.

'Communication is significantly limited, and our roads remain in a crippled state.'

Voters in those counties will be allowed to drop off their ballots at any county board of elections in North Carolina or at any polling sites in their counties. Prior to the change, they were only allowed at those sites in their counties.

The time frame to request absentee ballots in person has also been expanded to Nov. 4.

“When we were last together to consider the emergency authority regarding absentee board meeting schedules for these affected counties, we were looking at 14 offices that could still not open for work or to the public, and today, all county offices are open in North Carolina, and this is just quite the feat," said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the board of elections.

Another board member said that the devastation from the hurricane still presented a major impediment to election efforts.

“As of today, we still have over 100,000 North Carolinians without power. Communication is significantly limited, and our roads remain in a crippled state," said Stacy Eggers IV.

The resolution also allows local county boards more leeway to determine how to implement election rules to help more people vote.

The official death count from Hurricane Helene has reached, 227 but greater numbers are expected as the disaster aid work continues. FEMA has been accused of acting incompetently to help the residents affected, and it has strongly denied such claims.

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