North Carolina Republicans Shoot Down Bill to Extend Voter Registration for Hurricane Helene Victims

Every single Republican from the North Carolina House of Representatives voted against allowing the state's hurricane victims more time to cast their votes.

Democratic lawmakers in the state's legislature aimed to extend the state's voter registration to Oct. 16 and allow 3 additional days for the arrival of absentee ballots cast within the state in order to allow hurricane victims time to vote.

On Wednesday, the entire House Republican Caucus voted against the bill that Democrats introduced.

House Democrats made a motion to suspend rules to allow the bill to be heard, which Republican lawmakers voted against unanimously, hence preventing a final vote from being conducted for the bill.

Almost a fifth of North Carolina's registered voters live in areas that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene. 1,275,054 registered voters reside within areas designated for federal funding towards recovery efforts following President Biden's approval of a disaster declaration within the state, reported NC Newsline.

Of these voters, 292,836 people are registered Democrats, 480,097 are Republicans and 490,140 are unaffiliated.

Some allowances have been granted to voters affected by the hurricane through the state's election board. Voters in affected counties may request mail-in ballots all the way up the day before election day. However, they must drop off their ballots at any county board of elections in the state or at a polling station in their county by 7:30 p.m. ET on election day, Nov. 5.