In the Face of Natural Disasters, Our Elections Are Resilient

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People vote in voting booth set up on card tables around the perimeter of a room.
Voters during early voting at the Anderson County Board of Voter Registration & Elections in downtown Anderson, South Carolina on October 22, 2024. Photo by Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As communities across the southeastern United States rebuild after unimaginable destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, their resilience is on full display.  

In the weeks before Election Day, the responses by state and local officials to Hurricanes Helene and Milton have also shown us that our elections are resilient. Local election officials have been working hard to help voters exercise their freedom to vote and ensure our elections run smoothly, even in the face of natural disasters.  

For example, North Carolina’s State Board of Elections moved quickly to produce guidance for voters impacted by the hurricane and worked with the Legislature to create new polling sites, expand early voting and give voters more absentee ballot drop-off locations.  

Similarly, a judge in South Carolina extended the state’s voter registration deadline so people affected by the hurricanes could still register to vote.

And Florida’s governor issued an executive order providing supervisors of elections in some affected counties with flexibility to serve voters in their communities — although CLC and our partners have urged Florida officials to do more.  

On top of states taking immediate and swift action to ensure voters have the resources available to them to make their voices heard, the U.S. Department of Justice has also launched a webpage for hurricane-related voter assistance.  

Election workers and voters alike are adapting to the difficult circumstances, and early voting is successfully underway. In fact, voters in Georgia and North Carolina are setting records for early voting turnout despite the storms.

As the response to Helene and Milton demonstrated, our elections are strong — just like the communities impacted by these devasting storms. We can rest assured that if another natural disaster were to strike, our tried and tested systems can handle it.

CLC will continue working tirelessly so every American can vote and every vote is counted, even in the wake of natural disasters.

Jonathan is CLC's Director, Voting Advocacy and Partnerships.