Electoral battleground North Carolina starts early in-person voting while recovering from Helene
Early in-person voting has started in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Early in-person voting began statewide Thursday in the presidential battleground of North Carolina, including in mountainous areas where thousands of potential voters still lack power and clean running water after Hurricane Helene's epic flooding.
Helene’s arrival three weeks ago in the Southeast decimated remote towns throughout Appalachia and killed at least 246 people, with a little over half of the storm-related deaths in North Carolina. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005.
But despite the catastrophic damage, all but four of 80 sites in the 25 western counties hardest hit by the storm were set to open Thursday for the 17-day early vote period — a tremendous achievement according to State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell, who credited emergency management workers, election officials and utilities.
“It’s an effort all North Carolinians should be proud of,” Brinson Bell said this week.
