Usually, state agencies are lucky if their state legislature gives them the amount of money and resources they request in an emergency. Very rarely does a legislature provide for more than what is asked.
But such was the case Wednesday, when the North Carolina General Assembly approved $5 million for election administration in 25 counties impacted by Tropical Storm Helene.
The State Board of Elections initially requested $2.1 million to help run elections in 13 counties where election infrastructure, voting site accessibility and disruption in the postal service and transportation remains “severely disrupted by Tropical Storm Helene.”
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Instead, they will receive $5 million to aid the 25 counties that were part of the federally declared disaster area last week: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties.
This does not include Swain and Mecklenburg, which were added to the federal declaration more recently.
The legislature also codified emergency measures passed by the State Board on Monday, while broadening certain measures.
The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024, which includes $273 million in total initial recovery aid, passed both legislative chambers unanimously. It takes effect immediately.
Legislators told reporters the legislature would return for an originally unplanned session on Oct. 24 to pass further relief packages.
“Recovering from Hurricane Helene will be no small task, but I believe we — the state of North Carolina, the people of North Carolina — are up to the task,” Senate Leader Phil Berger said. “Today, we’re convening for the first Hurricane Helene disaster recovery package. This is just a first step for us to take as legislators.”
What will state election funding pay for?
The Disaster Recovery Act directs the State Board to “make all reasonable efforts” to address each county board of elections’ needs, including by providing direct grants or reimbursement.
Funds can be used to hire temporary elections staff, deploy mobile voting units, equipment and supplies, train new poll workers or precinct officials, communicate with voters through mailed notices of election changes, re-print absentee ballots, buy emergency communications systems for counties and ensure access to technology and internet connectivity.
Helene “dealt a serious blow to what may very well be the ability to conduct elections in the disaster-related counties,” Berger said.
“We felt that it was necessary to not only provide the State Board with adequate resources to do what they’re needing to do based on the changes that are taking place, but also some flexibility so the local boards could get some of that money and assist some of the cash flow issues and some of the shortfalls that they might have,” he said.
The State Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
What emergency measures did the state approve?
Monday, the State Board unanimously approved a litany of emergency measures to ensure elections are conducted on schedule in the 13 most impacted counties.
The legislature voted to codify those emergency measures for the November 2024 election.
It also added a few measures, extending the measures to the 25 counties.
The State Board emergency measures allowed county boards of election to change early voting sites, days and hours of operation, as well as transfer voters from one Election Day precinct voting site to another or move precincts within or even outside of the county.
If multiple precincts are combined into one polling place, the materials, tabulators and voting processes for each precinct will remain separate within the site.
The legislature codified these measures, but directed county boards to resort to moving polling places outside the county “only as a last resort.”
The Board also allowed county boards of election to appoint elections officials who are registered voters of other North Carolina counties to serve during early voting and on Election Day, if a bipartisan majority approved.
Poll workers could be shifted around to different locations to maintain a threshold of knowledge and experience at each polling site.
The state legislature went beyond that, to allow registered voters of North Carolina in any county, who are otherwise eligible, to serve as:
- chief judges or judges for a precinct;
- assistants or student election assistants at precincts;
- ballot counters; or
- staff at an early voting site.
State employees who serve in one of these positions may do so without taking any leave.
These replacement elections workers may need training. The law directs the State Board to develop training programs for county boards of election members, county directors, full-time employees of the county boards of elections, chief judges and all other precinct officials who are appointed to replace, supplement or assist in the 2024 election.
The State Board made several changes to absentee-ballot voting. They are allowing voters, their near relatives or verifiable legal guardians to do some things in person at county boards of election that previously had to be done by mail, considering the complications with the postal delivery system in the storm-impacted region.
Voters, their near relatives or verifiable legal guardians may request absentee ballots, cancel destroyed or lost ballots and have them re-issued, and pick up documentation to “cure” ballots with some issue in person. The county board of election will record these activities.
Voters themselves can return absentee ballots in person on Election Day, while that was previously only allowed during early voting. They may return them to any county board of elections or the State Board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, and those boards will deliver them to the correct board of elections by the day before the election canvass, where official results are tallied.
When this happens, the receiving county board of elections or State Board will date-stamp the ballot envelope, then send the ballot to the appropriate county through mail or in person using a secure, sealed container with clear documentation of the ballot’s chain of custody.
The legislature codified these measures, while increasing the reporting requirement for counties receiving absentee ballots meant for storm-impacted counties from a weekly to a daily basis.
Berger said the change was intended to ensure that nobody has to wait a week after Election Day to know how many of those absentee ballots are out there.
“My guess is that it’s not going to be a whole lot,” he said. “But we don’t know that, and so we just felt like getting a daily report would give us a better idea of, if you’ve got a really close election, how many ballots are out there that we’ll need to make sure we account for.”
There are a few other additions in The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024.
Under the law, the State Board will establish a hot line for displaced voters to ask questions. It directs the Board to use traditional mail, mass communications like email addresses and phone numbers on file, local media and county political parties “to the extent practicable as soon as possible after approval” of an election change.
Educational materials will be shared on the State Board’s website, as well as distributed to state agencies, shelters and other groups serving displaced people. The Board will establish a process for multi partisan teams to help impacted voters with absentee voting.
“These are all common sense steps we can take to ensure that Western North Carolinians in the affected counties can vote no matter where they are in the state of North Carolina,” Berger said.
By April 15, 2025, the State Board of Elections must provide a report to the state evaluating these emergency measures and recommending future emergency response plans.
County response
Yancey County elections director Mary Beth Tipton needs to replace 11 Election Day polling places — which is all of them.
After re-opening the county elections office Monday, where early voting occurs, Tipton has been laser focused on preparing for Election Day.
Her office has only two staff, but she has to find time to get on the ground to find a flat place in precincts where people can park and a tent can be erected for voting.
“I don’t want them traveling, they’ve lost enough as it is,” Tipton said. “I want to be able to go to my voters and not have to have my voters come to me to be able to vote.I want to keep it as normal as I possibly can. We need normal.”
Cell service is spotty, and Wi-Fi is even spottier, she added. They have no water, and they’re out of portable restrooms.
She said Yancey County could probably use every single one of the approved elections funding uses the state wrote into law Wednesday.
“The money is much appreciated,” Tipton said.
In Rutherford County, the main focus will be resending absentee ballots to displaced voters, elections director Dawn Lovelace said. They can use state funding for those printing costs, but besides that, Lovelace doesn’t anticipate asking for substantial help.
Counties outside of the 13 most impacted didn’t appear to have many funding requests yet. A Macon County elections official said they won’t have to change any precincts, and probably won’t need much of the $5 million appropriated.
Alexander County elections director Patrick Wike said they are still reviewing what flexibility the law provides, but none of their voting places were damaged by the storm, and power is nearly fully restored.
Lovelace said she thinks the relief package reflects an understanding of the devastation that occurred.
“If they got more than what they asked for, I think it’s because people are realizing the importance of elections and how important it is to make sure everybody’s vote gets counted,” she said.
Source: This story was originally published by carolinapublicpress.org, Sarah Michels
Cover photo credit pexels.com by Markus Winkler
