North Carolina’s post-Helene changes for absentee, in-person voting are not signs of ‘cheating’

After Hurricane Helene left many people in western North Carolina stranded, the state eased some rules for in-person and mail-in voting.

Some social media users, however, have twisted the new rules as a plot to sway the outcome of the Nov. 5 election.

"There it is folks. … Hurricane Helene was about cheating in the Election," the right-leaning X account MJTruthUltra shared Oct. 9. The post had been viewed more than 3 million times. 

Many X posts said the new rules amount to "cheating" or a plan to "steal" the election. That’s a distortion.

The changes amount to a bipartisan effort to help people vote. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign called on North Carolina to expand voter access in affected counties, and some new rules mirror the campaign’s suggestions. Western North Carolina is a Republican stronghold, and Trump won most of those counties in 2020.

Republican House Speaker Tim Moore told PolitiFact that the election rule changes "will ensure displaced Hurricane Helene victims in the impacted counties can vote, while also providing safeguards such as requiring a bipartisan majority of the county board in order to make significant changes to early voting and initiate out of precinct/out of county voting." 

The hurricane damage poses logistical challenges for voting by mail and in person because some people are no longer living in their homes or can’t travel to certain sites. The storm left five early voting sites unusable as of Oct. 10. 

"You have poll sites that literally no longer exist," Moore said. "A fire department or church or community building — that building is no longer there."

The hurricane killed more than 100 people in North Carolina, and hundreds are homeless while tens of thousands have no power. Hundreds of roads were washed out. 

State officials have committed to making voting accessible despite the disaster.

"The emergency response actions were taken as a result of the most significant natural disaster to affect western North Carolina within living memory," said Stacy Eggers IV, a Republican state elections board member.

The majority of North Carolina voters are expected to vote in person, either when early voting begins Oct. 17 or on Election Day. 

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The state Board of Elections, which includes three Democrats and two Republicans, voted unanimously Oct. 7 to change the rules in 13 counties affected by Hurricane Helene. State law gives the state board emergency powers in the event of a natural disaster. 

The board voted for the rules after consulting with county election officials, public safety and emergency management officials, and the U.S. Postal Service. The board announced the changes publicly.

Two days later, the state General Assembly unanimously passed House Bill 149, a package of Helene response measures that included most of what the elections board approved in its resolution. It applies to the 25 counties in western North Carolina (there are 100 counties in the state). Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill Oct. 10. The rules apply to all voters in those counties, regardless of party. 

The Legislature approved an extra $5 million in funding for elections in the western part of the state, up from the elections board’s initial $2 million request.

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Donald Trump lost the popular vote by 2%.

Here’s what some of the new rules do:

• Counties can modify early voting sites: A county board of elections, by bipartisan majority vote, can change the locations, days or hours of early voting sites.

• Counties can move Election Day sites: Again with a county board approval, Election Day polling places may be moved, but as close to the planned sites as possible.

• More time to request an absentee ballot: A voter can request an absentee ballot, or a near relative can do it on their behalf, in person at the county board of elections office up until 5 p.m. Nov. 4, the day before the election. (Usually voters fill out a form and the county must receive the application one week before the election and the county mails the ballot.)

• More places to return absentee ballots: Absentee ballots may be delivered in person, by a voter or that voter's near relative, by handing the voted ballot to an elections official at any county elections office or the state office. (Usually voters mail or drop off the ballots in their own county.)

• Expanding the pool of election workers: A qualified registered voter can be appointed to work as a judge at an election precinct or as an assistant regardless of the precinct or county where the person lives. 

Eggers told PolitiFact that several safeguards remain in place. 

"No change has been made to the qualifications to vote, the voter registration process, the vote tabulation process, or voter ID requirements," Eggers said.

Eggers said he didn’t see how someone could conclude that the bipartisan rule changes are cheating.

"It seems like an attempt to sensationalize something which is not controversial," Eggers said.

The MJTruthUltra account warned that allowing voters to return ballots anywhere in the state, would make contesting voter turnout impossible. "If one county has 15,000 registered voters, we could now see a 30,000 voter turnout," the X post said. 

That’s not how it will work. The new law requires officials to document the chain of custody of any ballots that move from county to county.

"Despite the false narrative, absentee ballots returned out of county are tracked back to the precinct and county where the voter is registered," Moore said.

Michael Bitzer, a politics and history professor at Catawba College, wrote an analysis of party registration for the 1.3 million voters in the 25 counties. He found that Democrats are 23% of the voters while the majority are Republicans and unaffiliated voters. 

Posts on X said that North Carolina’s new voting rules in response to Hurricane Helene amount to "cheating" or a plot to "steal" the election.

The rule changes were legal, made in the open, and designed to help people in affected areas overcome voting obstacles.

It’s a rare example of how politicians and officials can coalesce quickly to help voters, regardless of party, cast a ballot in person or by mail, despite widespread damage to their communities. Trump's campaign requested some of the changes.

Without the new rules, some voters may have not been able to cast a ballot.

We rate this statement Pants on Fire!

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