Polls opened for early voting Thursday in North Carolina, a crucial battleground within the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, simply weeks after Hurricane Helene left some residents nonetheless with out energy, working water or service. phone.
North Carolina could possibly be essential in figuring out a winner within the race between US Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former Republican President Donald Trump, as a result of their voting preferences may swing in both path. Polls present a really shut race with a handful of swing states more likely to decide the winner.
Hurricane Helene, which killed greater than 200 individuals in six states and prompted billions of {dollars} in injury, has raised questions on the way it may have an effect on voter turnout.
Harvey Neal, a 71-year-old retiree, voted on the solely early voting web site in Hendersonville, North Carolina, as a gradual stream of voters streamed out and in of the middle Thursday morning.
Neal voted for Harris. “She’s younger, she’s a Democrat,” he mentioned. “And you recognize, what is the various?”
Neal considers himself comparatively fortunate after the hurricane, as nothing hit his home, regardless that he had been with out energy for 4 or 5 days.
Trump and Harris are tied in North Carolina, the place Trump exhibits 48% assist in state polls, in comparison with 47.5% for Harris, in response to ballot aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
A few of the state’s hardest-hit counties lean each Republican and Democratic. For instance, Buncombe County, dwelling to town of Asheville, supported President Joe Biden within the 2020 election over Trump, whereas neighboring Yancey County favored Trump.
North Carolina’s state elections board has spent weeks assessing storm injury to polling locations. On Thursday, 76 early voting websites opened to voters within the 25 western North Carolina counties included within the federal catastrophe declaration. That compares to the 80 deliberate earlier than the storm.
Early voting has been the most well-liked method for North Carolinians to forged their ballots within the 2020 and 2016 elections, in response to the state. Early voting started Tuesday in Georgia, one other hotly contested state that was affected by storm injury.
Tina Veitch, a 49-year-old graphic designer, mentioned the storm destroyed the street to her household’s dwelling in Burnsville. However one of many causes he stayed within the space, as a substitute of in search of refuge along with his household in Florida, is so he may vote.
He mentioned Wednesday that the absentee voting course of was too arduous, including: “The quantity of hoops you must bounce by way of to simply do it wasn’t value it… So we thought, ‘Let’s simply keep at the very least till tomorrow.'” and vote.”