The North Carolina Board of Elections Board approved additional support and solutions to ensure voting accessibility in 13 counties in Western North Carolina deeply impacted by Helene.
The unanimous adoption of an elections board resolution allows for certain adaptions or changes, directed at the local level, only by bipartisan decision-making in the following counties: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.
Multipartisan Assistance Teams will be available to assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places such as assisted living facilities.
Stacy “Four” Eggers IV, a Republican from Boone was appointed in 2023, spoke about the need for these changes.
“I think ultimately is a necessary step and that this is an unprecedented amount of damage and destruction that's been caused by this storm. Not only has it resulted in loss of life and personal property but it has severely damaged the road systems water systems and communications systems up here in the High Country,” Eggers said.
These counties will be able to change early voting locations by adding sites, or removing sites that are unusable as well as updating days and hours those locations are open. This could include moving sites to neighboring counties for those places that have been devastated by the storm.
State BOE director Karen Brinson-Bell said that one week has made a big difference in recovery and planning efforts for elections offices across the state. Last week there were 14 county election offices that we closed and today all 100 offices in the state are open, Brinson-Bell said.
“We are committed to ensuring that we open early voting on the 17th in all 100 counties including these affected counties. It may look a little different in these affected counties, but we fully intend to offer early voting starting on the 17th,” Brinson-Bell said.
Under state BOE approvals, counties will have greater flexibility around adding, changing or updating early voting sites or hours. Registered voters (or their near relatives or verifiable legal guardians) may hand-deliver their completed absentee ballot to another North Carolina county’s board of elections office or the State Board office so long as it is received by 7:30 pm on Election Day.
Here's what the state board approved:
In-person Voting
- Facilitate in-person early voting by allowing county boards of elections to modify their approved early voting sites, days, and hours through a bipartisan, majority vote.
- Allow county boards to modify Election Day polling places by bipartisan, majority vote. This provision also allows county boards of elections, with the approval of the State Board executive director, to open a polling place in another county, provided that materials, tabulators and voting processes are kept separate for each precinct’s voters at that location.
- Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to set up their board of elections office to permit any registered voter in the county to vote at that site, in the event voters are unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site or are unsure of their voting location. Some county offices may also serve as an early voting site, which allows any registered voter of the county to vote during the early voting period.
Absentee Voting
- Allow registered voters to request and receive an absentee ballot in person at their county board of elections office up until November 4 – the day before the election. As always, the voter or voter’s near relative or legal guardian is required to complete an absentee request form with the required personal information for the voter, and that information must be verified by the county board as with any absentee request.
- Allow voters to drop off completed absentee ballots at Election Day polling places operated by the voters’ county board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
- Allow voters or their near relatives or legal guardians to hand-deliver completed absentee ballots to another county board of elections in North Carolina or the State Board of Elections office, as long as the ballot is received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. The county or State Board then would ensure that those ballots are delivered to each voter’s county board of elections by November 14 – the day before county canvass – to be counted. A log and chain of custody will be maintained to secure these ballots.
Poll worker recruitment and assignment
- Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to appoint election officials who are registered to vote in other N.C. counties, to appoint emergency Election Day assistants and assign them to a precinct, and to reassign poll workers to different locations than their original assignment to ensure sufficient knowledge and expertise at each voting site.
Multipartisan Assistance Teams (MATs)
- Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to schedule Multipartisan Assistance Teams to assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places where disaster relief is provided to the public. These teams may receive and deliver to county boards completed absentee ballot envelopes for voters.
Coordination with Emergency Officials
- Ensure the State Board continues its ongoing coordination with the N.C. Division of Emergency Management to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities, generators, temporary restrooms, and other needs.
Read the final, signed resolution or watch recording of the State Board meeting
For comprehensive information on Voting After Helene, go to NCSBE.gov/Helene.
