Early Voting Urged In NC Special Elections As Hurricane Advances

NORTH CAROLINA — The slow creep of Hurricane Dorian, along with ongoing coastal evacuations, is adding potential drama to upcoming special elections in North Carolina, one week before voters in the 3rd and 9th districts head to the voting booth to pick new congressional representatives. North Carolina voting officials are now urging voters cast ballots early before the storm hits later this week.

As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Dorian was packing 120 mph winds as the powerful storm, now a category 2, pounded the Bahamas for a third straight day. The hurricane is expected to advance near or over the North Carolina coast late Thursday into Friday as a category 2 storm, forecasters said. North Carolina's governor said Tuesday morning that while localized and voluntary evacuations had been initiated along the coast, the state would be issuing a mandatory evacuation of all barrier islands.

State election officials are urging all voters eligible to vote on Election Day Sept. 10 to not wait to do so.

“We encourage everyone eligible to vote in the September contests to add a visit to an early voting site to your hurricane preparation checklist and cast their ballot while conditions are safe,” State Board of Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell said in a statement. “We do not want Dorian to put a damper on turnout for these important elections.”

County election officials in the two districts have been advised of preparations for storm effects, such as flooding or power outages at early voting sites or Election Day polling locations, elections officials said.

Early voting, which is underway in both districts, ends Sept. 6. Election Day is Tuesday, Sept. 10. Voters in the 3rd congressional district, which encompasses 17 counties in eastern North Carolina’s coastline directly in the crosshairs of the storm, will be choosing a replacement for Rep. Walter Jones, who died in February.

The special election in the 9th district, which stretches west of Charlotte from Union County into Bladen County, was ordered by election officials as a do-over due to large scale ballot fraud in the 2018 election.

SEE ALSO:

• Mark Harris Not Running In New 9th District House Race
• Former Governor McCrory Says No To 9th District House Run
• North Carolina Ordering Mandatory Evacuations Of Barrier Islands
• NC Activates 300 National Guard Members Ahead Of Hurricane Dorian
• Hurricane Dorian: How NC Residents Can Prepare
• Charlotte Speedway Campground Opens To Hurricane Evacuees