The North Carolina Board of Elections unanimously approved a plan to modify in-person early voting locations following Hurricane Helene.
Thirteen counties are affected by the matter, including Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.
According to ABC 11, the modifications will also involve “provisions that range from modifying early voting sites and schedules to allowing for additional locations for voters to drop off their absentee ballots.”
Board of Elections General Counsel Paul Cox said that the resolution allows “county boards, by a bipartisan majority vote, to appoint election officials who are registered in other counties, to appoint emergency election day assistance, to re-assign poll workers to different locations.”
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a statement, “These measures were put in place to ensure the victims of Helene can vote in the upcoming election and provide election officials in the hardest hit areas the tools they need to conduct a secure election under extraordinarily difficult conditions.”
“Just like the people of western North Carolina, election officials are resilient. We are determined to get the job done for our neighbors and friends in western North Carolina.”
Early voting begins October 17.
