The Postal Service provides election officials with daily updates on roads that are closed and not allowing delivery. Officials then match the data to a list of people requesting outside ballots and contact them to determine how best to deliver the ballots to them.
“We’re doing everything we can to find voters who may be missing ballots,” Gannon said.
The state also plans to set up 15 tents in the region before the elections. Hardened temporary structures will include bathrooms and security systems. It is not yet clear where exactly they are headed, but several are expected in Avery County, one of several counties near Asheville in western North Carolina, where they are trying to update their election plans.
“We had to expand our precincts to get people back in,” said Yancey County GOP Chairman John Anglin. “This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue.”
In previous years, rural counties often had only one early voting location. This year, some have increased the number of sites to accommodate heavily damaged areas recovering from Helene. In Avery County, where 76% of registered voters participated in the 2020 election, officials scrambled to ensure a smooth first day of early voting. Joseph Trivette, the county’s deputy director of elections, said the county has two early voting locations for the first time since Helene damaged polling stations in 14 of 19 precincts.
State election officials said they have to face an unprecedented scenario in 2020 with the Covid pandemic. But this year is different: they have less time to prepare.
“We are in the second round of various events for the presidential election,” Trivette said. “But we’re just adjusting.”
The political consequences of another extended election are unclear. Asheville is known as one of the state’s most liberal pockets and may be heavily skewed for Vice President Kamala Harris, but its surrounding rural counties are expected to largely support former President Donald Trump. Low voter turnout can make a difference for either campaign.
As early voting begins, election officials say they recognize the high stakes. In Newland, they are opening a new site at Riverside Elementary, near one of the hardest-hit communities, and using Starlink satellite service to boost the schedule for three polling stations that are now combined into one polling station.
“My grandmother always told me the importance of voting,” Trivette said. “So to be a part of it now and help people vote means a lot more.”