CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Voters across the state of North Carolina headed to the polls on Oct. 17 as the state’s early voting period begins.

Citizens will have until 3 p.m. on Nov. 2 to cast their ballots early in person and avoid typical Election Day lines.

Still reeling from Hurricane Helene, the challenge is how the state will ensure that those affected can vote.

“The people of western North Carolina will vote,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said at an Oct. 15 press conference.

“Before the storm, 80 sites were planned, so we just lost a few, despite the extensive damage, loss of power, water, internet, and phone service, and the washing out of roads throughout the region.”

Twenty-five North Carolina counties have been designated as disaster areas in the wake of Helene, a Category 4 storm that touched down in Florida on Sept. 26 and proceeded to devastate the Southeast with historic levels of flooding. At least 230 people were killed.

The hurricane hit western North Carolina’s mountainous region the hardest, in some cases washing away entire towns that were unprepared for such an inundation.

Bell advised that 76 voting sites will be open to the more than 1.2 million registered voters in those areas.

Bell added that the state expects to have at least one early voting site open in every county during the early voting period, with modified schedules in some areas.

Those modifications are just one of the election rule changes the state is allowing in the wake of Helene.

Other revisions approved earlier this month include allowing outreach teams in the 13 hardest-hit counties to visit disaster shelters to help residents cast their ballots. Changes also were made to some absentee voting rules.

As of Oct. 10, more than 47,000 absentee ballots had been mailed to voters in the affected counties; so far, fewer than 5,700 had been returned.

With nearly 19 post office locations in the state still closed due to damage from Helene, returning ballots by mail may not be an option for some.

Under the new rules, those in the designated disaster areas may pick up their absentee ballots at local election offices and return them to any county election office or early voting site. Affected voters also may vote absentee in-person at their local election office until 5 p.m. on Nov. 4.

All absentee ballots must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Bell noted that in-person early voting has been the most popular choice of North Carolina voters in recent general elections, “and we expect that will continue in 2024.”

Early Voters Sound Off

Alfonso Patterson was one of many locals who turned out.

He told The Epoch Times that he cast his choice in 2024 as a referendum on one man: former President Donald Trump.

Alphonso Patterson walks to a voting center in Kannapolis, N.C., on Oct. 17, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

“I have friends that have felonies and stuff like that. My personal opinion—I don’t believe that a [felon] should be able to run for president,” he said.

Patterson said he had voted for Republicans before, including President Ronald Reagan.

“I flip-flop. I vote for the person who has the best values,” he said.

Early voters wait to cast their ballots in Kannapolis, N.C., on Oct. 17, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

At least some economic issues weigh on him. He said property taxes on his home “went up tremendously.”

“If anybody else would have been running Republican that’s a decent guy, I’d have voted Republican,” Patterson said.

Polling from Gallup suggests many Americans may lean toward Republicans out of dissatisfaction with how the economy has fared under the incumbent Democrats.

While voting for Trump was a bridge too far for occasional GOP voter Patterson, early voters Jordan and Lauren Williams were proud to choose the previous commander-in-chief. The economy tops their list of concerns.

“Hopefully we can get back to a simpler time of our economy increasing,” Lauren Williams said. Her husband, who works as a firefighter, agreed.

Jordan and Lauren Williams leave a voting center in Kannapolis, N.C., on Oct. 17, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

A key firefighter union that backed President Joe Biden in 2020, the International Association of Fire Fighters, has opted against issuing an endorsement this year. That union was joined in that decision by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which also issued polling showing that rank-and-file union members preferred Trump to Harris.

Lauren Williams is a stay-at-home mom who runs a décor business on the side, she said.

“This is my busy time. This is the first year I’ve seen a drop—a significant drop—because people just don’t have the money,” she said.

Why did the couple show up so early to vote?

Jordan Williams’s answer was simple: “Get ahead of the line.”