The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 9, 2024
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
With Hurricane Milton adding insult to Hurricane Helene’s injury, state officials in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina are making accommodations to help as many affected citizens to vote as possible.
Thousands of voters are temporarily or indefinitely displaced, polling places have been destroyed, many roads are still impassable, and election workers evacuated. Not a good set-up for one of the pivotal elections of our lifetime.
For 13 Florida counties, Governor Ron Desantis has allowed mail-in ballots to be sent to addresses other than the on-file address, directed that state workers be allowed to serve as poll workers, granted flexibility to local election offices to consolidate or move polling locations, and suspended noticing and other rules.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said only three precincts sustained damage, and most other issues were power-related. Georgia election officials were working to deliver 700 mail-in ballots where postal delivery was suspended.
In North Carolina, 13 counties were granted emergency rules by the North Carolina Election Board, including creating temporarily locations or central, so-called “super-precincts” where any county voter can vote. For absentee ballots, voters or immediate relatives can drop off ballots at any county election office, and bipartisan election teams will visit shelters and relief centers to offer and collect absentee ballots.
Six precincts and two county election offices in Tennessee were also affected.
We have links to each state’s election guidance AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
FL Governor Ron Desantis – EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 24 …212 (Emergency Management/Elections· – Hurrican~ Helene)
GA Secretary of State – Tips for Voting in the 2024 General Election After Helene
NC Board of Election – Bipartisan State Board Unanimously Approves Measures to Help WNC Voters
NC Board of Elections – Tips for Voting in the 2024 General Election After Helene
Politico – Helene’s devastation has disrupted voting in battlegrounds
Votebeat – After Hurricane Helene, North Carolina and other states scramble to keep election on track
Associated Press – North Carolina residents impacted by Helene likely to see some voting changes
Nashville Tennessean – Tennessee polling places inaccessible from Helene floods weeks before presidential election
Check Your Voter Registration:
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
- USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
- Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
- Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
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