HOT SPRINGS, N.C. — About three weeks after Hurricane Helen struck western North Carolina, the Hot Springs Community Center was still covered in mud. A paper sign was posted on the door warning visitors to be “extremely careful” until the building was searched. The cause of the damage was written at the top of the page: waterlogging.
Like many other buildings in the town of about 500 people, floodwaters left the city center in ruins. This was one of several problems faced by Madison County election officials, who were planning to use the center as one of their three early voting sites.
Finding a new place to set up voting machines — a place that wasn’t damaged, had enough space and could access power — was among the countless hurdles election officials, poll workers and voters have had to deal with since Helen brought widespread death and destruction to Area.
Officials have settled on the Hot Springs Senior Meal Site as the city’s new early voting site. It’s been a big adjustment for Dean Benfield, who has been a poll worker for more than 20 years. She and her colleagues had a routine at the community center that is now disrupted, just like the lives of many of their neighbors.
“I hated for that place to be destroyed,” Benfield, 77, said of the community center she had visited since her childhood.
However, voters showed up when polls opened, on time, for early voting last week. Benfield, who leads the poll, called it a “great day,” with more than 50 voters finally casting their ballots.
“Normally on the first day, and I’ll just tell you, we might end up with four voters, we might end up with five voters all day long,” she said. “But it was a good turnout.”
The strong early voting turnout in one small town was just one example of an extraordinary effort across storm-ravaged counties in western North Carolina to prepare for the start of voting in one of the nation’s most crucial presidential battleground states.
Even with residents displaced by flooded homes, communities isolated by washed-out roads, and power and internet service cut, state and local election officials were working with dogged determination to make sure voters could find a way to cast their ballots. Ballot cards. Some towns are still without water after their systems were completely destroyed.
The community center in Hot Springs turned out to be one of a few of 80 early voting sites in western North Carolina that could not open after the storm.
Turnout since early voting began last week has been surprisingly strong. Voters set a state record with more than 350,000 votes cast on the first day, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. By Tuesday — the sixth day of early voting — more than 1.3 million ballots had been cast in person or by mail.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, has repeatedly praised the efforts of local election workers, some of whom lost their homes. She described the damage as unprecedented, and the challenges election officials faced in its aftermath as horrific. But during the first week of early voting, the process proved remarkably smooth, with few complaints expressed publicly.
“Mountain people are strong, and the people they serve in elections are resilient and resilient, too,” she said last week.
This doesn’t mean it was easy. The Associated Press spent two days at the start of early voting with election workers and voters in two counties devastated by Helen: Madison, a reliably Republican county that delivered landslide victories for Donald Trump in the last presidential election; and Buncombe, a Democratic-leaning district in the hardest-hit area and home to the arts and tourism of Asheville. She voted heavily for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
Many election workers spoke of facing disruptions to their normal routines. Sometimes they share building space with first responders or hurricane relief volunteers. They must also adapt to new state election rules aimed at improving voter access after the storm.
Confusion over where polling places are located has been one of the most common issues Madison County Elections Director Jacob Ray has had to address. Non-working phones in election offices pose another challenge, making communication with voters more difficult.
But Ray said the election is on track so far, given the devastation of downtown Hot Springs and Marshall, two of the county’s central cities.
All scheduled poll workers, about 70 of them, remain available to work during the early voting period and on Election Day, Ray said. About a week after the storm, Ray said his office has a plan for how to move forward.
Part of that included sharing the school’s location, AB Tech Madison Campus in Marshall, with the local fire department, which had a staging area outside the building to respond to emergencies and assist with tornado relief.
Crates of water bottles were stacked outside. A small group of poll workers prepare for early voting in a classroom. One of the nearby houses contained Red Cross cots and blankets.
When Kent Self, a poll worker at a Marshall voting site, saw the initial damage Helen had caused, he was struck by one question: “Are we even going to be able to hold an election?”
He has since answered his question, and every day since the storm seems to get better.
“We are starting to see more glimmers of hope,” he added.
Recovery is continuing in both counties. Large trees that once blocked the main roads now line its shoulders. Construction crews are everywhere, repairing badly damaged buildings or repaving roads.
In Buncombe County, access to clean water remains a challenge after Helen washed away major pipelines. It’s not yet clear how the devastation in and around Asheville will affect voter turnout during Election Day, but any decline from previous elections could particularly impact Harris’ chances in the state, given the Democratic lean in the county.
Some voters were determined to cast their ballots. They overcame detours posed by damaged roads, prolonged power outages and other disruptions so their voices could be heard in what many described as one of the most consequential presidential elections of their lives.
Susan and Stephen Miller’s Buncombe County home was still without power or water last week, and black mold had developed due to flooding. The couple spent the weeks after Helen’s infection moving between rented homes so Stephen could work remotely.
Susan Miller said she knows people who were forced out of their homes after roads and bridges collapsed. The Millers were luckier, being able to drive to the Black Mountain Library on the first day of early voting.
She wasn’t surprised to see a line of voters, saying Black Mountain is an “active” community. She also noted how warm the building is, providing a refuge from the cold weather for people who still don’t have heat at home.
“I’m so happy to see so many people. I was happy to wait, and I would have waited twice to be able to do this,” Stephen Miller said after the couple cast their votes for Harris.
It’s common for Diana and Richard Rockwell to vote early, but this year that means going to a different polling place.
The couple’s regular voting site in Swannanoa, a town in Buncombe County a few miles from Black Mountain, was used in the recovery effort. Instead, they went to the Black Mountain Library after receiving an email about a change in polling places.
The couple said they were excited to vote despite the difficulties facing the community. In the aftermath of the storm, they helped neighbors connect with their loved ones.
“You get to know people and see how nice they are, and maybe you didn’t know that,” Diana Rockwell said.
Both Republicans, Rockwells, said they care more about abortion, immigration and the economy.
Lynn Ferry had already completed her absentee ballot and traveled to the Black Mountain Library to turn it in. Her home was largely undamaged, but she lost internet service for more than two weeks and several roads near her home were washed out.
Her path to the library was more difficult and longer than usual due to landslides that closed some roads.
She had to park a few blocks away from the library, but that was just a minor inconvenience. She said she wanted to make sure her ballot got into “the hands of the people who are counting the votes.”
“If I had to drive 20 hours one way to cast my vote, I would do it,” Ferry said. “That’s how important it is for each of us to take responsibility for this country.”
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