Georgia and North Carolina voters who live in areas damaged by Hurricane Helene face obstacles to casting their ballots in the two key swing states.
North Carolina has relocated at least 40 polling places since the historic storm hit in late September. And early voting in most of the Georgia counties recovering from Helene is below the state average, a POLITICO’s E&E News analysis shows. In Georgia counties receiving federal disaster aid, 51 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots by Monday afternoon, compared to 56 percent statewide.
The significance of early voting trends and relocated Election Day voting sites is difficult to know. But Georgia was the closest state in the 2020 presidential election, with President Joe Biden winning by fewer than 12,000 votes out of 5 million cast. Former President Donald Trump won North Carolina in 2020 by fewer than 75,000 votes out of 5.5 million cast. Both states have set statewide records for early voting this year.
Each state has 16 Electoral College votes, tied for eighth-most among the nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia.
