Representative Chuck Edwards, who represents a district in North Carolina that has been hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, is expressing concern about voter access in the state as residents are still engaged in recovery efforts after the storm completely destroyed entire towns.
“Folks are still in the process of putting their lives together, desperately trying to get their power back on, trying to get in touch with their loved ones, trying to dig out from the debris and not really thinking that there’s an election coming up here in three weeks or so,” the Republican congressman told Fox News on Friday.
“So, what I’m encouraging everyone to do is to start thinking about that now, to request an absentee ballot if you don’t think you’re going to be able to get to a poll or to plan to vote early,” the North Carolina Republican added.
He said he plans to be in touch with his constituents to offer transportation assistance for “folks that feel like they might not have a normal life or a transportation style to make it to the polls.”
“I’m concerned. But I also have a lot of confidence with the folks in the area to help folks exercise that constitutional right. We just have to start thinking about it now. We can’t wait till the last minute, as too many times we’re accustomed to doing,” he added.
Edwards believes roughly 100 people in his district have died as a result of the storm, but said many were still missing. Of 9,200 acres of western North Carolina that was hard-hit by the storm, some 6,000 acres of that is in Edwards’s district, he said.
The hurricane has devastated many areas across several states in the Southeast, leaving more than 230 people dead and causing billions of dollars of damage.
Roughly 17 percent of North Carolina’s registered voters are from Helene disaster areas, according to Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College.
The Trump campaign on Tuesday called on state officials “to swiftly enact an expansion of voter access for North Carolinians who live in the areas of the state suffering from the impact of Hurricane Helene.”
The state legislature has approved approved $5 million in emergency funding for the State Board of Elections as it contends with the hurricane’s aftermath. Lawmakers also expanded emergency measures put in place by the election board that allow counties to modify early voting days and locations.