Elections officials in the battleground state of North Carolina are optimistic that the destruction left behind by Hurricane Helene will not affect the state’s election process and results, but they admitted Thursday that there is no way to know.
North Carolina State Board of Elections spokesman Patrick Gannon said the state was not aware of damage to ballots the state had sent to absentee voters and those that may have already been returned.
“The State Board of Elections is not aware of any damage or loss to any stored ballots or voting equipment resulting from Helene,” Gannon wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
“It is possible that some absentee ballots that were in the mail – either at a post office or in a residential mailbox – were damaged or washed away in flooding,” Gannon continued. “At this point, we have no way of knowing how many absentee ballots may have been affected in this way.”
Helene plowed through western North Carolina last Thursday and flooded the region to an extent not seen in decades. More than 200 people have been confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, with hundreds more still missing.
Helene also breezed through the battleground state of Georgia, tearing through the western part of the state and its Atlantic coast, where entire large trees were downed in Savannah.
The Elections Division of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office said all election-related equipment and documents were safe.
“Ballots haven’t gone out yet, but we can confirm that election equipment and materials remain secure and undamaged in every Georgia county,” wrote Georgia secretary of state spokesman Robert Sinners in an email.
Gannon pointed North Carolina voters to ncsbe.gov/Helene for information about voting in the aftermath of Helene.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Any voter can contact their county board of elections office to check the status of their ballot,” Gannon wrote. “They can also sign up for BallotTrax to track their ballot through the process. And they can also use the State Board’s Voter Search tool, which will show if and when their returned ballot was received by the county board of elections.”
If a voter believes his or her ballot was lost or compromised in transit, they should contact the county board of elections.
