Helene Recovery and Voting

Voters Affected by Helene

Find information for North Carolina voters in the Helene disaster area during the 2024 general election. Continue reading, or click the links below to jump to specific parts of this page.

All county boards of elections offices are now open throughout the state. For local contact information, see the County Boards of Elections Search. Revisit this page throughout the election for additional resources as they become available.

Tips for Voting in the 2024 General Election After Helene

Click the tabs for information on each topic. You can also read our printer-friendly download available in English and Spanish:

Tab/Accordion Items

  • Have your ballot sent to you:
    • If you had to relocate due to the storm, you do not have to return to your county to vote. You can request to have your ballot delivered to your temporary housing location or wherever you can receive mail.
    • If you have already requested an absentee ballot and need it to be sent to a new location, contact your county board of elections to spoil your current ballot and reissue a ballot to your new location.
    • If you have requested a ballot but have not received it within a week or believe your ballot may have been lost due to Helene, contact your county board of elections to determine your next steps to ensure you can vote in this election.
    • You can request an absentee ballot online at the North Carolina Absentee Ballot Portal until 5 p.m. Oct. 29, and mail it to, or drop it off at your county board of elections office.
      • Standard way to return the absentee ballot: Mail it through the U.S. Postal Service and be sure to include $1.77 postage. It must be received by 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5.
  • If you are registered to vote in an area under the federal disaster declaration (see Emergency Designation below for more information), you can:

  • Vote at any early voting site in your county from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2 when it is open for voting.
  • Early voting sites will be available in all counties. See locations and schedules at the Early Voting Site Search.
  • If you’re not registered to vote, you can register and vote at any early voting site in your county.
    • You’ll need to bring official proof of address, such as a driver’s license or other government document, paycheck, utility bill, or bank statement. This can be an electronic copy.

  • Vote at your assigned precinct on Election Day, Nov. 5.
  • Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • To find your Election Day polling place and view your sample ballot, use the Voter Search tool.

  • If you are voting in person and have an acceptable photo ID such as an N.C. driver’s license, please bring it when you vote. This will make your voting process quick and easy.
  • If you lost your photo ID due to Helene, you have options:
    • Fill out a Photo ID Exception Form at your voting site or send the form back with your absentee ballot. (A blank Exception Form will arrive with your absentee packet.) Check the box for “Exception 3: Victim of a Natural Disaster.” Make sure to sign the form.
    • Go to your county board of elections office. If you are a registered voter, they can take your photo and print an acceptable ID on the spot. For details, go to Get a Free Voter Photo ID.
    • Get a free ID from an NCDMV office in your area. For details, see State IDs | NCDMV.
  • For details about North Carolina’s photo ID requirement, including a list of all acceptable IDs, go to BringItNC.gov.

  • Any North Carolina voter can check their voter registration status using the Voter Search tool.

  • The regular voter registration deadline was Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. However, if you missed the voter registration deadline, you can register at an early voting site with an official document showing your voting address. See the “Voting Early in Person” tab above for more information.

  • In North Carolina, you must have lived at your residence as of 30 days before the election to vote there — by Sunday, Oct. 6.
  • If you moved by Oct. 6 with no intent to return (or you’re uncertain), you can register to vote in your new location.
  • If you moved after Oct. 6, even with no plans to return, you should vote using your prior residence.
  • If you are only moving temporarily and plan to return, keep voting using your prior residence.

Emergency Designation

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared Tropical Storm Helene a disaster on Sept. 28, 2024. The designated disaster area includes 25 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Area. More areas may be added later based on damage assessments.

Map with darkened counties, showing the FEMA designated disaster area in Western North Carolina as described in the list.
Tropical Storm Helene designated disaster area in Western North Carolina (Source: FEMA)
  1. Alexander
  2. Alleghany
  3. Ashe
  4. Avery
  5. Buncombe
  6. Burke
  7. Caldwell
  8. Catawba
  9. Clay
  10. Cleveland
  11. Gaston
  12. Haywood
  13. Henderson
  14. Jackson
  15. Lincoln
  16. Macon
  17. Madison
  18. McDowell
  19. Mitchell
  20. Polk
  21. Rutherford
  22. Transylvania
  23. Watauga
  24. Wilkes
  25. Yancey

By the Numbers

Here is registered voter and absentee ballot data through Nov. 3, 2024, from North Carolina’s 25 counties in the designated Helene disaster area:

  • Total registered voters (25 disaster counties): 1,290,017
    • Breakdown by party:
      • Constitution Party: 93
      • Democratic Party: 296,710
      • Green Party: 627
      • Justice for All Party: 56
      • Libertarian Party: 8,452
      • No Labels Party: 3,340
      • Republican Party: 489,419
      • Unaffiliated: 496,113
      • We the People Party: 226
    • Absentee ballots sent: 72,413
    • Absentee ballots returned: 44,102
    • Absentee ballots outstanding: 28,311

Press Statements

State Board Actions

Helpful Information

Message for Candidates and Committees

Click the tab for more information.

Tab/Accordion Items

The Campaign Finance Department at the State Board of Elections strongly encourages candidates and committees in the areas affected by Helene to file their 2024 Third Quarter Report and 2024 Fourth Quarter Report electronically. This includes candidates at the county and municipal levels.

To that end, and beginning with the 2024 Third Quarter Report, the State Board of Elections will accept a disclosure report cover from electronic filers that is digitally signed via Adobe Acrobat Reader or other Adobe products using a certificate-based digital ID and emailed to campaign.reporting@ncsbe.gov. Instructions about how to sign the disclosure report cover using this process can be found on the agency website: Campaign Finance Reporting Software; once on this webpage, a treasurer can scroll down to the “Digital Signatures for Electronic Filers” heading. If the treasurer digitally signs the disclosure report cover and emails it along with the data file to campaign.reporting@ncsbe.gov, a copy of the report and the signed cover page do not need to be filed with the county board of elections. The disclosure report cover will be posted on the State Board website along with the data file.

Committees using the free Campaign Finance Remote Software for the first time this election cycle may manually add the ending balance from the 2024 Second Quarter Report in the software to ensure that election cycle totals are correctly captured. A copy of the software manual is available on the State Board’s website: Campaign Finance Remote Filing Software Manual (PDF). Instructions on how to manually enter ending balances from the 2024 Second Quarter Report can be found on page 30 of the manual. Treasurers may also contact the State Board for assistance at campaign.reporting@ncsbe.gov, or by calling (919) 814-0700 and choosing option 2 for Campaign Finance Department staff.

The Campaign Finance Department recognizes that there are treasurers who may not be able to file the 2024 Third Quarter Report by Oct. 29, 2024, because of ongoing power and internet outages, loss of records, and personal hardship. These treasurers are encouraged to file disclosure reports as soon as they are able. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 163-278.34(a), the State Board may waive a late filing penalty if it determines there is good cause for the waiver. Treasurers that fail to file the report by the due date will receive instructions on how to request a waiver from the State Board.