Current:Home > ScamsGeorgia elections chief doesn’t expect Helene damage to have big effect on voting in the state -EquityZone
Georgia elections chief doesn’t expect Helene damage to have big effect on voting in the state
View
Date:2025-04-27 18:15:24
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s top elections official said Monday that he doesn’t expect damage from Hurricane Helene to cause major disruptions in next month’s general election in the state.
After coming ashore in Florida, Helene hit Georgia hard, leaving destruction and power outages in its wake. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said during a news conference that, for the most part, elections offices in the state’s 159 counties did not sustain serious damage, and no equipment was affected.
“What has been on everyone’s mind is what will happen to elections,” Raffensperger said. “Good news: Absentee ballots are going out this week as scheduled, and early voting will start next Tuesday, on Oct. 15.”
Blake Evans, the elections director for the secretary of state’s office, said county election officials have been dealing with power and internet outages in some parts of the state. But he said emergency management officials have helped prioritize elections offices to make sure they get power restored, and by Monday there were “minimal, if any, power outages to election offices across the state.”
Election equipment testing and poll worker training was paused in some locations immediately after the storm tore through, but that activity has largely resumed, Evans said. County officials are still assessing the roughly 2,400 Election Day polling locations across the state, and at least three — one each in Columbia, Lowndes and Richmond counties — will have to be changed because of damage, he said, adding that updates will be posted on the secretary of state’s website.
Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the secretary of state’s office, said that “a handful” of U.S. Postal Service offices remain closed in areas hard hit by the hurricane. It looks like just under 700 absentee ballots could be affected by that, and they’re working to either make it so people can pick up their ballots at another nearby post office or to arrange an alternative delivery method, Sterling said.
While absentee ballots are delivered to voters by mail, Sterling noted they don’t have to be returned by mail. He recommended returning absentee ballots to elections offices by hand to ensure that they arrive on time.
With hurricane season still underway, uncertainty remains, Sterling said. Hurricane Milton, swirling now in the Gulf of Mexico, is gaining momentum as it speeds toward Florida. It is expected to be a major hurricane by the time it reaches the Sunshine State on Wednesday.
But as of now — if no other storm strikes Georgia and causes problems — Sterling said he expects things to run smoothly.
“The bad part is the storm hit at all,” he said of Helene. “The good part is it hit far enough out for us to be able to recover and make plans, so I think most people should be OK.”
veryGood! (9)
Related
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Naomi Biden testifies in father Hunter Biden's gun trial | The Excerpt
- Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman Are Ready to Put a Spell on Practical Magic 2
- Bail set at $5M for woman accused of fatally stabbing 3-year-old outside an Ohio supermarket
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Ex-police officer who once shared cell with Jeffrey Epstein gets life in prison for 4 murders
- Heat up Your Kitchen With Sur la Table’s Warehouse Sale: Shop Le Creuset, Staub, & All-Clad up to 55% Off
- Police shoot 2 people in separate instances in Washington state
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Heat up Your Kitchen With Sur la Table’s Warehouse Sale: Shop Le Creuset, Staub, & All-Clad up to 55% Off
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Baltimore shipping channel fully reopens after bridge collapse
- Giants' Darren Waller announces retirement from the NFL following health scare, Kelsey Plum divorce filing
- 2 Bronx men plead guilty to drug charges in fentanyl poisoning of toddler who died at daycare
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- The only surviving victim of a metal pipe attack in Iowa has died, authorities say
- How To Get Miley Cyrus' Favorite Tanning Mist for Free Right Now
- FDA warns microdose chocolate may lead to seizures
Recommendation
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Pennsylvania schools would get billions more under Democratic plan passed by the state House
Teton Pass shut down in Wyoming after 'catastrophic' landslide caused it to collapse
Chrysler recalls more than 211,000 SUVs and pickup trucks due to software malfunction
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
Michael Mosley, missing British TV doctor, found dead in Greece after days-long search
4 Iowa instructors teaching at a Chinese university were attacked at a park
Apple's WWDC 2024 kicks off June 10. Here's start time, how to watch and what to expect.