After Helene, North Carolina is racing to ensure a fair election
Clyde's compact downtown core, including its two polling places, was severely damaged by Helene.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
Amid the devastation and human suffering caused by Tropical Storm Helene, it’s only natural to lose sight of the fact that in less than 30 days, voters across the country will head to the polls to participate in a close, consequential election. Come hell or high water — Western North Carolina has had both — local election officials are working feverishly on a short timeline to ensure there are no disruptions to early voting, absentee balloting or Election Day activities.
“You will be able to have all the confidence that you are accustomed to in the election process,” said Haywood County’s Board of Elections Director Robert Inman.
Safeguarding transparent, accurate election results has always been a top priority in North Carolina’s 100 counties, with election deniers careful to omit the state from unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud during former President Donald Trump’s 1.3-point win in 2020. Now, polls show Trump neck-and-neck with Vice President Kamala Harris in the Tarheel State, and several other tight races will determine whether the state’s Republicans can maintain their veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.
Some polling places, however, are in no condition to receive visitors and won’t be any time soon.
The North Clyde precinct normally votes at the county’s education center on Broad Street. The South Clyde precinct normally votes at the Clyde Fire Department on Carolina Boulevard.
“Both of those facilities I do know are not going to be usable,” Inman said.
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Clyde’s town hall, also on Carolina Boulevard, was damaged as well. The building is used as one of the county’s early voting sites. Early voting begins on Oct. 17, giving the town less time to make repairs and giving Inman less time to find an alternate site if town hall can’t be used.
“There were 4,000 people that voted at that location in 2020,” said Inman.
Many of Canton’s polling places appear to be unscathed as are some in Waynesville, but there’s no way to tell for sure without physically verifying all of them, along with every other site in every other municipality.
While Inman said that would usually be his department’s job — checking for changes like ADA accessibility or other disqualifying factors — Helene forced a change in plans. Due to gasoline shortages at the time of his Oct. 3 interview with The Smoky Mountain News and the ongoing concerns over road and bridge integrity, those checks were being performed by the sheriff’s office and other first responders.
At least one site is of particular concern for Inman.
“We have a precinct, our northernmost precinct, that I honestly believe is cut off from the rest of the world,” he said.
Big Creek, a tiny community nestled along the northern edge of Haywood County, actually votes just across the border in Tennessee, at the Carolina Power building on Waterville Road in Newport. During the 2024 Democratic Primary Election, only one vote was cast in the precinct. In the 2020 General Election, there were 22.
Those votes are as important as any other in the United States, but compromised infrastructure means Big Creek will require special attention. Flooding on a stretch of Interstate 40 has the highway, which is the easiest way into Big Creek, closed for the foreseeable future.
“Regardless of whether or not they were able to call me on the phone to request an absentee application, can the Postal Service get it there? I don't know,” Inman said. “We've just been discussing yesterday and today how we address that situation and what we ask for, what is allowable, what would be approved and what recommendations would we put forward to even suggest how to fix that problem.”
Absentee voting by mail will emerge as another issue, as mail carriers attempt to deliver ballots at mailboxes that were washed away and homes that no longer exist, to people who may be staying in temporary shelters or with relatives in other counties or states.
“It's a significant concern when you begin to actually try to get your arms around the grand scheme of everything under one umbrella. It does get to be overwhelming,” Inman said. “We do know that in Haywood County, and we could magnify that many, many, many times across 28 counties in Western North Carolina and other states.”
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has created a Hurricane Helene resource page on its website, ncsbe.gov, to address issues that voters impacted by the storm may experience.
People who are displaced can request an absentee ballot to be delivered to their new location. Those who have already requested an absentee ballot but I want it sent to a new location should contact their county board of elections office. To ensure people don’t vote multiple times, previously requested ballots will be “spoiled,” or otherwise designated invalid.
Friday, Oct. 11 is the deadline to register to vote in North Carolina or to change party affiliation or address. Prospective voters can register online at the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles with proper identification, or, simply by visiting the county board of elections office.
In-person registration also takes place during the early voting period, which ends on Nov. 2, but locations, days and hours of operation vary by county.
Voters must have lived at their current residence, wherever it may be, at least 30 days before the election in order to vote in that location. That deadline is Sunday, Oct. 6.
Across the region, the varying intensity of Helene produced different results in different areas. Although 28 counties in Western North Carolina have been designated FEMA disaster areas, some made out much better than others. Generally, counties west of Haywood received less damage than Haywood.
Swain County isn’t even included in the disaster declaration. Swain County Board of Elections Director Adam Bynes said that as of Oct. 3, his department hadn’t yet physically checked on all polling locations, but that there were no indications of damage.
Macon County is designated as a disaster area, but damage there was comparatively less than in Haywood.
“Macon County is very fortunate and we have no damage to report for any of our 15 polling locations,” said Melanie Thibault, director of the Macon County Board of Elections, who added that she and county emergency services workers had checked each precinct. “All polling locations will be open on Election Day for voters to cast their ballot.”
In Jackson County, Board of Elections director Amanda Allen said that because many of their polling places are in sturdy government buildings, they’re not likely to have been affected.
“We haven’t gone out to all of them yet. Several of them, like our rec center, our offices, they’re open right now and they're accessible,” Allen said. “We have been trying to talk to those that are community-based, and we've been talking to the person that does those bookings, making sure that space is safe, but we haven't been able to lay eyes on all of them by our office. But I hope we will soon.”
Just as Haywood fared worse than counties further west, it fared better — far better — than counties further east. Buncombe County, home to Asheville, has become the national media’s epicenter of Helene damage.
As of press time on Saturday, Oct. 5, Buncombe County election offices are closed but staff are still working, according to the NCSBE. In Avery County, offices are functioning in the same manner.
Offices in Mitchell County and in Yancey County, parts of which received 30 inches of rain, were closed.
The Watauga County Board of Elections issued a press release on Oct. 3, vowing “November election will go on” despite widespread destruction and the closure of Appalachian State university through Oct. 15. The board’s motto, noted in the release, is “adapt and overcome.” Staff there were still taking calls, and offices were slated to open on Oct. 5.
Allen, in Jackson County, said she had no doubt that elections professionals across the state — even in the storm-ravaged west — would provide another transparent and accurate election of the sort that North Carolina voters have come to trust.
“I think it has really inspired our precinct workers and our staff and reminded us that elections happen no matter what. We're really seeing people kind of come out of the woodwork that may only work on Election Day that are that are calling us up and saying, ‘How can we help? What do we need to do?’” Allen said. “Everybody's ready, and we understand that this is going forward no matter what, and we're trying to make sure that that everything's in place.”
Learn more
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has created a page on its website to address concerns about voting from people impacted by Hurricane Helene. Visit www.ncsbe.gov/voting/upcoming-election/helene-recovery-and-voting#VoterRegistration-4064 to learn more. For all other election-related questions, including pertinent deadline and registration status, visit ncsbe.gov or contact your county elections office as practicable.
UPDATE: Swain County was added to the FEMA disaster declaration a few hours after this story was published, according to Rep. Mike Clampitt (R-Swain).
