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ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA —Early in-person voting began statewide Thursday in the presidential battleground of North Carolina, including in mountainous areas where thousands of potential voters still lack power and clean running water after Hurricane Helene's epic flooding.
More than 400 locations in all 100 counties were slated to open for the 17-day early vote period, said State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell. Only four of 80 sites in the 25 western counties hardest hit by the storm weren't going to open.
Helene's arrival three weeks ago in the U.S. Southeast decimated remote towns throughout Appalachia and killed at least 246 people, with a little over half of the storm-related deaths in North Carolina. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005.
At the South Buncombe Library in Asheville, a city devastated by the storm, about 60 people - most bundled up in jackets, hats and gloves for the chilly weather - lined up around the building before the polls opened at 9 a.m.
They included 77-year-old Joyce Rich, who said Helene made early voting more urgent for her. Rich said while her house was largely spared by the storm, she and her husband still need to do some work on it. Meanwhile, family members who don't have power or water access are coming over to take showers.
"We decided, let's just get it finished," Rich said. "You never know what's going to happen."
Another voter at the library, 33-year-old Jarred Teague, said it was important to show up to vote early, in part because "democracy itself seems to be on the line" during this election.
Early in-person voting, which continues through November 2, is very popular in North Carolina. More than 3.6 million ballots - 65% of all cast ballots - were cast this way in the 2020 general election. In the 2016 election, 62% of all cast ballots were cast during early in-person voting.
Absentee voting in North Carolina began a few weeks ago, with over 67,000 completed ballots turned in so far, election officials said. People displaced by Helene are being allowed to drop off their absentee ballot at any early voting site in the state.
The importance of early voting wasn't lost upon the presidential campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz was expected to campaign in Winston-Salem and Durham, where he was to be joined by former President Bill Clinton.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley were expected to appear on the "Team Trump Bus Tour" when it resumes Thursday in Rutherford County, which was among the hardest-hit areas.
The North Carolina ballot also includes races for governor, attorney general and several other statewide positions. All U.S. House of Representatives and state General Assembly seats are up for reelection.
County election boards have received flexibility to modify early voting sites, including locations and their daily hours. In Buncombe County, 10 of the 14 planned early voting sites will be open.
In Watauga County, home to Boone and Appalachian State University, the board adjusted early voting hours to avoid evening travel for voters and poll workers. They also expanded weekend voting options.
Watauga elections Director Matt Snyder said Wednesday having all six sites ready for Thursday was a feat his office didn't expect in Helene's immediate aftermath. But election officials have been working weekends to get prepared.
"It's exhausting," Snyder said. "It's 16-hour days ... but everybody seems to pitch in."
Officials in the 25 counties affected by the storm were still evaluating Election Day polling locations, with the "vast majority" expected to be available to voters, Brinson Bell said.
This is the first presidential general election for which North Carolina voters must show photo identification. Someone who has lost their ID because of the storm can fill out an exception form.