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Election workers in the swing state of North Carolina face a “daunting” challenge in the wake of widespread flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, an official said Tuesday.
“This storm is like nothing we’ve seen in our lifetimes in western North Carolina,” the state’s Board of Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell said during a conference call with reporters, according to the North State Journal.
“The destruction is unprecedented and this level of uncertainty this close to election day is daunting.”
Twelve county election offices in the western part of the state are closed as a result of the deadly hurricane, and five have requested emergency “attack response kits” to restore communications, Brinson Bell said.
The kits provide a laptop computer, Wi-Fi hotspot and connectivity protection device and some include a cellphone.
There were no reports of damaged voting equipment or ballots, Brinson Bell said.
North Carolina’s voter registration deadline is Oct. 11 and in-person early voting is scheduled to start Oct 17.
“We anticipate having a better idea in the next few days and hopefully by the end of the week as to whether we need to take actions with the state board, the Legislature or just work with our emergency management officials to do temporary locations,” Brinson Bell said.
North Carolina is one of seven battleground states widely expected to decide the tight race between Democratic Vice President Donald Trump and former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
A dozen polls conducted during the past two weeks showed Trump ahead in eight, Harris ahead in two and the candidates tied in two, according to Real Clear Politics.
But all the results fell within the polls’ margins of error and Trump had an average lead of just 0.7%, according to Real Clear Politics.
