Registered Democrats in North Carolina have taken an early lead in returning mail votes after the rules were loosened to make it easier for voters in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.
So far, 22,910 mail-in votes have been returned, 9,075 by registered Democrats, 5,595 by registered Republicans and 8,240 by voters not affiliated with the major parties, according to VoteHub.us, which said its source is the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Overall, more Democrats requested mail-in ballots than Republicans.
Another 261,335 mail-in votes have not yet been returned, of which 93,285 are registered Democrats, 65,333 are registered Republicans and 102,717 are not affiliated with the major parties.
Wreckage from flooding is seen in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, on October 1. Registered Democrats in the state have taken an early lead in returning mail votes after rules were loosened to make it easier for voters in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.
N.C. State Police/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Far more voters in the state will vote in person than will vote by mail. There are 7,704,452 registered voters in North Carolina as of October 5, and 284,245 mail-in ballots were requested.
Last week, Helene ripped through the state, flooding towns, destroying buildings (including polling places) and taking out roads, power lines and cellular service.
Meanwhile, the state’s first mail-in ballots were sent out on September 24, three days before Helene made landfall in Florida. Because of the flooding that followed, the U.S. Postal Service has been forced to halt mail delivery at more than a dozen sites in western North Carolina until further notice.
On Monday, the state’s Board of Elections unanimously approved a list of emergency measures to help Helene victims so they can vote in November’s elections. These measures apply to the 13 worst affected counties in the state’s west, some of which will need to restore power, internet service and water to election offices.
The measures include extending the deadline for voters to request a mail-in ballot until November 4, the day before the elections, and allowing voters to drop off completed mail-in ballots on Election Day. County boards are also able to modify their polling places, including opening polling places in other counties.
North Carolina is one of the seven battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.
Trump narrowly leads, on average, by 0.8 points according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight, 48.2 points to Harris’ 47.4.
If Trump takes North Carolina and the swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, he could reach the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the election, barring any upsets elsewhere.
Trump could also win by beating Harris in the four Sun Belt swing states of North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada and flipping either Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania.
Trump won North Carolina in 2016 and 2020.
