People in Atlanta bail water out of a home into the flooded streets near Peachtree Creek after Hurricane Helene brought in heavy rains on Sept. 27. Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Hurricane season has not only wreaked havoc on people’s lives throughout much of the country, but could also make it more difficult for voters to cast their ballots in hard-hit regions.
Other election threats include misinformation and even terrorism, with warnings from the Department of Homeland Security and an arrest in Oklahoma allegedly connected with an Election Day plot.
Election officials in states regularly affected by hurricane season have considerable experience ensuring residents can vote following natural disasters, but those in parts of the country less accustomed to the destruction are learning as they go this year.
Voters accustomed to a quick drive to their polling place or a drop box might need to spend more time getting there amid washed-out roads, while some may be so bogged down in rebuilding their lives, they simply choose not to cast a ballot. Regular mail service may be disrupted for mail-in ballots.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier this week he didn’t expect recovery from Hurricane Helene to have a significant impact on voting, praising county election officials for troubleshooting power outages and a loss of internet during the storm, the Georgia Recorder reported.
Local election officials throughout the state, he said, were ready to ship mail-in ballots on time and didn’t expect any delays to the Oct. 15 start of early voting.
County election officials “really put public service first because they understand how important voting is in 53 counties that so far have been declared federal disaster areas,” Raffensperger said during a press briefing.
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North Carolina’s legislature unanimously passed an emergency funding package Wednesday that includes $5 million for the Board of Elections to help it recover from the hurricane and ensure the election goes forward somewhat smoothly, according to NC Newsline.
Elections officials in the state will be allowed to make changes to early voting and polling locations throughout 25 western counties, an increase from the 13 counties previously authorized to make changes.
“While the Board of Elections made a good effort, we want to extend it to additional counties that were impacted,” North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said during a press conference.
The Trump campaign released a list of 10 requests for voting in North Carolina on Tuesday evening, including that voters “who have been displaced to another North Carolina county … have the ability to vote a provisional ballot on election day, which will be delivered back to and processed at the voter’s correct County Board of Elections.”
That specific request was not approved by the state, according to NC Newsline.
In Florida, where residents barely began addressing damage from Hurricane Helene before Hurricane Milton emerged, there are disagreements about how best to proceed, the Florida Phoenix reported.
The League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund and the Florida State Conference of the NAACP have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to extend the voter registration deadline, which ended Monday.
The organizations argue that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis should have allowed more time for voter registration, since residents have been focused on storm preparation, evacuation and recovery.
“While issuing mandatory evacuation orders, he has refused to extend the voter registration deadline, disenfranchising many Floridians who were unable to register due to a disaster beyond their control,” the organizations wrote in a statement. “Voters should not have to worry about registering to vote while they are trying to protect their lives and communities.”
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Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced Wednesday that there would be changes throughout six counties to address impacts from Hurricane Helene, though he committed to ensuring residents in the state would be able to vote in person or by mail.
“The devastation experienced in northeast Tennessee is heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Hargett said in a written statement. “However, I continue to be amazed at the planning and resiliency of our local election officials.
“We have been working with our local elections administrators … throughout the entirety of this disaster, and their unwavering leadership and commitment will ensure this election proceeds as planned, so registered voters have the opportunity to vote,” his statement said.
Hargett reiterated in the statement that early voting would still begin on Oct. 16 and run through Oct. 31.
Specific changes to voting throughout the six counties were posted on the secretary of state’s website, which will be updated with any additional alterations in the days ahead.
Elections and artificial intelligence
Meanwhile, election officials in Kentucky are warning state lawmakers that artificial intelligence has the “potential for significant impact” on elections in the months and years ahead, the Kentucky Lantern reported.
Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams urged lawmakers during a meeting of the General Assembly’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force to take the technology seriously.
“Should you take up AI legislation when you return in 2025, I would encourage you to consider prohibiting impersonation of election officials,” Adams said during the meeting. “It is illegal to impersonate a peace officer, and for good reason.
“It should be equally illegal to impersonate a secretary of state or county clerk and put out false information in any format about our elections,” he said,
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report earlier this month saying officials expected foreign “state actors will continue to pose a host of threats to the Homeland and public safety,” including through artificial intelligence.
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“Specifically, China, Iran, and Russia will use a blend of subversive, undeclared, criminal, and coercive tactics to seek new opportunities to undermine confidence in US democratic institutions and domestic social cohesion,” the 46-page report states.
“Advances in AI likely will enable foreign adversaries to increase the output, timeliness, and perceived authenticity of their mis-, dis-, and malinformation designed to influence US audiences while concealing or distorting the origin of the content,” it said.
Terrorism and the election
DHS also expects threats from terrorism to remain high throughout the year, including around the elections, according to the report.
“Lone offenders and small groups continue to pose the greatest threat of carrying out attacks with little to no warning,” the report states.
That appears to be the case in Oklahoma, where federal officials allege a 27-year-old Afghanistan national living in the state purchased AK-47 rifles and ammunition as part of a plot to conduct an attack on Election Day in the name of the Islamic State group, the Oklahoma Voice reported.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi and a co-conspirator under age 18 allegedly met with an FBI asset in rural western Oklahoma to purchase two AK-47 assault rifles, 10 magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.
An FBI search of Tawhedi’s phone found communications with a person who Tawhedi believed was affiliated with the Islamic State group. He also “allegedly accessed, viewed, and saved ISIS propaganda on his iCloud and Google account, participated in pro-ISIS Telegram groups, and contributed to a charity which fronts for and funnels money to ISIS,” according to the complaint.
Tawhedi entered the United States on Sept. 9, 2021, on a special immigrant visa and “is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings,” according to the criminal complaint.
The co-defendant is Tawhedi’s wife’s younger brother. While unnamed because he is a juvenile, the criminal complaint says he is a citizen of Afghanistan with legal permanent resident status who entered the United States on March 27, 2018, on a special immigrant visa.