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Election preparations continue in the background of massive relief efforts in western North Carolina, where people are in what former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr called “an almost life and death struggle.”
Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr (File photo)
Orr said he expects voting to be depressed in a region where towns are washed away, roads are closed, and Hurricane Helene survivors fight to find food and water.
Orr is a resident of Yancey County, where the county elections office had not reopened as of Thursday, according to a state Board of Elections website. Orr spoke Friday as part of a National Task Force on Election Crises panel.
“North Carolina is well prepared to deal with emergency situations,” Orr said. “There are disasters and then there are disaster-disasters. It [the present situation in the wake of Hurricane Helene] is staggering beyond the comprehension of any of us who have lived here most of our lives.”
North Carolina is a battleground state where the polls show a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Save for Watauga, home to Appalachian State University, and Buncombe, all the counties in the 25-county FEMA designated disaster area are strongly Republican.
Prof. Michael Morely (Photo: https://law.fsu.edu/)
Michael Morley, an election law expert at Florida State University, said North Carolina has “a fairly broad election emergency statute” that makes it better able to respond to natural disasters. He advised voters to “do everything as early as possible.”
If possible, it’s best to vote in person, Morley said.
People who are going to vote absentee should request and return ballots as soon as they can, he said. That way “you don’t have to worry about bumping up against deadlines.”
For election administrators, it’s crucial to have emergency plans, to try to identify alternative polling locations and people who can step in as poll workers.
The regular voter registration deadline is Oct. 11. People will have another opportunity to register during the early voting period, which runs from Oct. 17 – Nov. 2.
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is Oct. 29.
The General Assembly is returning to work next week and will consider its first Helene relief package.
Orr said one thing the legislature could do to help is to appropriate money to counties for elections. Counties’ election budgets were busted when they were required to reprint ballots after the state Supreme Court allowed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name, Orr said.
“I hope the Republican-controlled General Assembly would be overly enthusiastic about providing resources to these counties,” he said. “It would also be good politics, because these are your folks.”
Orr said he hopes for a bipartisan effort to make elections run.
“I worry about people saying, however it operates, that the results don’t reflect the will of the people,” he said.
Complaints about voting difficulties or unconstitutional burdens have to be made before the election, Morley said.
After the election, “it’s too late to bring that litigation,” he said.
One conservative group is already complaining that the state board has not done enough to make election adjustments following the disaster.
The Election Transparency Initiative said in a news release that there’s still no word on which pre-approved polling sites cannot be used or what will be done about the indefinite suspension of postal service in the region.
State Board of Elections spokesman Pat Gannon said in an email that the board will meet again Monday to consider more emergency measures.
“The State Board of Elections is committed to ensuring every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot, regardless of their circumstances following the disaster,” he wrote. “We are working tirelessly to make that happen. On Monday, the bipartisan Board is planning to meet again to consider various emergency measures to carry out voting in the affected counties. The affected counties and their staffs are working around the clock to guarantee their neighbors their right to vote.
“Criticism like this is simply uninformed. It’s also a slap in the face for the dozens of election workers, especially those who are themselves victims of the disaster, who are putting in long hours under trying circumstances to serve their voters.”