With just 35 days until election day, early voting kicking off in many areas, and absentee ballots already making their rounds, Hurricane Helene has brewed up more than just bad weather. There is the real likelihood of it putting a serious dent in the South’s ability to vote, potentially turning the south’s right to cast a ballot into the latest casualty of the storm.
Though media outlets have yet to dive into how the recent hurricane and flooding may impact the upcoming elections in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia, it’s clear that storm damage probably wreaked havoc on polling stations and equipment in those states. Flooded voting machines, damaged election centers, and roads that are too dangerous to navigate may pose significant challenges for voters.
Swimming to the voting center?
No one’s going to be slipping into scuba gear to cast their ballot (though some die-hard Trump fans might give it a shot). So questions remain…What will happen to all those voters in the southern states who don’t have a polling station to go to anymore? With spotty cell phone service and a lack of electricity in many areas, how will that affect election workers’ ability to set up polling locations?
And what about absentee ballots that were potentially printed, maybe sitting in a warehouse, and now floating somewhere in the aftermath of a flood along with drop boxes and Voter ID cards?
The road to democracy might be closed – literally.
Sure, voting matters, but what good is democracy when your route to the polling station feels more like navigating a white-water rafting course? With hurricane damage leaving roads flooded, washed out, or covered in debris, will the South’s infrastructure be ready in time for voters to cast their ballots? Or will voters be left wondering if they’ll need an alternate route – or a boat – to get to the polls?
While looking for your closet polling place, GPS might just shrug at you this time, saying, “Not my problem.” But hey, at least we might be practicing social distancing – but between voters and their polling places this time around.
Homeless voters displaced.
And how many waterlogged southerns have been displaced and will be moving out of their voting jurisdiction – or moving out of their home state altogether? So, not only are they homeless, but their voting status is in limbo. And most likely, they have more important things on their minds and more important things to do than figure out how they are going to be able to vote.
Unfortunately, it looks like Mother Nature decided to be another voice to weigh in on this year’s election cycle with flooding and storm damage likely turning many polling places into waterparks. That means scrambling to set up new voting centers, probably with a skeleton crew since workers are displaced. And if the absentee ballots are late to the party, some voters may not even get their ballots in time to return them.
Add in power and communication outages, and it’s a recipe for election chaos if conditions don’t rapidly improve. And good luck getting updates from officials who are also figuring out how to plug back in and get their cell phones connecting. On top of that, brace yourself for possible lawsuits because when things go sideways, there are always accusations of “voter suppression” from the Left – and this time around, maybe demands for more time to vote.
As Helene’s aftermath unfolds, everyone will be left to wonder if every vote will be counted in the southern states this time around – and how that will happen. It will probably depend on the demographics and political party of the voters who are impacted. If Democrats need their votes, they will move heaven and earth (and they may have to with bulldozers) to get those votes counted. If not, they’ll largely ignore the problem and slow-walk any potential solutions to “save democracy.”
The post Will Hurricane Helene Contribute to Voting Havoc in the South: Is Democracy Underwater Too? appeared first on Steve Gruber.
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Author: Liberty Paige
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