Bipartisan State Board unanimously approves measures to help WNC voters
RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — The bipartisan State Board of Elections on Monday unanimously approved a long list of emergency measures to help Helene victims vote in the 2024 election and ensure election officials can provide accessible, safe, and secure voting options for residents of Western North Carolina.
The 5-0 vote of Democrats and Republicans on the State Board came after extensive planning by the State Board in coordination with county election officials, public safety and emergency management officials, and the U.S. Postal Service.
The provisions are also designed to help North Carolina voters living temporarily elsewhere inside or outside of the state or in disaster shelters to be able to vote. They also allow county boards of elections in the 13 counties the flexibility to modify early voting and Election Day voting sites and recruit additional poll workers to best accommodate their voters based on local conditions. And they allow election officials to continue to work with federal and state partners to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities and restrooms, generators, and other needs.
The emergency measures also include ways to get information about voting to voters housed in shelters and to western North Carolina in general. They were carefully crafted to avoid any detrimental effect on the integrity of the election or the security of ballots.
“These measures were put in place to ensure the victims of Helene can vote in the upcoming election and provide election officials in the hardest hit areas the tools they need to conduct a secure election under extraordinarily difficult conditions,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “Just like the people of western North Carolina, election officials are resilient. We are determined to get the job done for our neighbors and friends in western North Carolina.”
For comprehensive information on Voting After Helene, go to NCSBE.gov/Helene.
