North Carolina Republicans Successfully Open More Voting Sites for Those Impacted by Hurricane Helene
The Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly has provided relief to voters in flood-ravaged parts of the state despite local Democrats doing everything they can to keep early voting sites shuttered
The Republican supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly directed counties devastated by Hurricane Helene to open additional voting locations in remote areas where many voters remain stranded or have difficulty traveling to their county seats.
Senate Bill 132 passed unanimously in the state Senate and 106-2 in the state House—with only 2 Democrats opposed. The bill directs 13 western counties to open at least one voting site for every 30,000 registered voters by Oct. 29. The affected counties include Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.
Most of these counties have fewer than 30,000 registered voters and are not affected by the mandate. The directive most impacts Republican-heavy McDowell and Henderson Counties who were stuck with a single early voting location, despite McDowell having 31,000 registered voters and Henderson having nearly 100,000 registered voters.
Relief comes to the state’s western voters as Democrats have persistently used the crisis as a way to provide easy early voting access to their voters in Democrat-heavy Buncombe County—which has one early voting location for every 20,000 voters—while throttling early voting access to Republican areas.
(READ MORE: VOTER SUPPRESSION: Why are North Carolina Democrats Stopping Hurricane Helene Survivors from Voting Early?)
North Carolina Democrats Tried to Suppress Rural Votes
As Restoration News previously covered, the Democratic-appointed and controlled Board of Elections (BOE) in McDowell County twice refused to create a second voting location despite persistent requests by the local Republican Party. Voters near the remote town of Old Fort, where the second voting location is normally located, had to commute 13 miles over washed-out roads to the heavily trafficked BOE headquarters in Marion.
Despite higher overall early voter turnout, the BOE’s failure to open a second location in Old Fort significantly suppressed the vote from that town and more devastated areas outside Marion.
On Friday, after the legislature acted, the BOE held its 3rd emergency meeting and voted to reopen the Old Fort Depot at 25 W Main St, Old Fort, which they previously declined to use because it would allegedly cause too much hassle for election staff.
“We’ve been pushed into this,” grumbled BOE Member Tom Cline. “We had a perfect situation here, but we were pushed into this.”
Despite the bill receiving unanimous Democratic consent in the state senate and all but 2 Democratic votes in the state house, the McDowell County Democratic Party released a statement, bemoaning the fact that the local BOE had to accommodate its neighbors who had lost everything and might not have time to walk or hitchhike 13 miles both ways while trying to rebuild their lives.
The McDowell County Democratic Party stands firmly against Senate Bill 132, which proposes a costly and unnecessary additional polling site in counties distressed by the recent natural disaster. This legislation, pushed by Republican lawmakers, fails to address any real need and instead appears designed to push a political agenda, particularly in areas like McDowell County where 24% of voters have already cast their ballots.
This bill represents an attempt to manipulate local election resources, creating obstacles for those least able to absorb them and setting up potential claims of election fraud by undermining the trust in our dedicated election officials,” the Democratic Party’s statement added. “Our local election workers have long upheld the values of fairness and integrity in McDowell County’s electoral process, and this proposal would only serve to burden them with baseless requirements.
Fair and Accessible for Whom?
Interestingly, the local Democratic spokesperson decided to end their anti-voter access screed with: “The McDowell County Democratic Party will continue to advocate for fair and accessible voting for all and to defend our community against unnecessary, politically motivated interventions.”
Henderson County too faced long lines and difficulty parking at its single early voting site. The legislative relief prompted that county’s BOE to open 3 additional early voting sites to accommodate the county’s population. The new early voting sites include the Fletcher Town Hall on 300 Old Cane Creek Rd., Fletcher, Etowah Library at 101 Brickyard Rd, Etowah and the North Carolina Justice Academy at 234 St. Paul’s Rd., Edneyville. Early voting in North Carolina lasts until 3 PM, Saturday, November 2.
“Ensuring the right to vote is upheld for NC citizens devastated by Hurricane Helene should be a non-partisan issue,” said Restoration of America’s North Carolina Director Clay McCreary. “It is unconscionable that some local Democrats tried to prevent better access to voting in Helene-impacted areas of their own communities. Kudos to the Republican leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly for stepping up to promote voter access in these communities.”
(READ MORE: Trump Stands With Hurricane-Devastated North Carolinians. Where is Kamala Harris?)