How Florida’s hurricanes could sway the presidential election. And what officials are doing to keep voters safe

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Oct 11, 2024 at 12:46 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Image courtesy of Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire from Shutterstock

The 2024 US presidential election is fast approaching and while this week has been full of moments worth discussing—such as Kamala Harris’ appearance on Call Her Daddy and Donald Trump’s conversation with controversial comedian Andrew Schulz—we’re here to discuss a topic arguably far more important: how the ongoing hurricanes across the East Coast might impact the election.

Over the past month, Florida has been subject to two of the most severe hurricanes ever recorded in US history. Hurricane Helene came first, a Category 4 hurricane, and killed over 230 people in its path next to causing widespread destruction. Indeed, experts confirmed that it was the deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland US since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Next was Hurricane Milton, an equally vicious storm that is currently continuing to wreak havoc across parts of Florida. Presently, at least 15 people have died in Milton’s path of destruction, as reported by CNN.

Both hurricanes have taken lives, destroyed homes, roads, power lines, trees and buildings. And while the immediate humanitarian impact is evident, there are also a lot of political implications that should be addressed.

Voter turnout is of course paramount in this election and so officials now have the very arduous task of making sure that everything is in place and special measures are taken so that everyone in the states affected will still be able to vote.

According to reports, voting officials in North Carolina and Florida are currently racing against the clock to put in new voting procedures aimed at making it easier to cast ballots. Combined, North Carolina and Florida make up 46 Electoral College votes. Moreover, North Carolina is a swing state, so it’s imperative citizens there are able to have their say as it’ll likely play a big role in deciding whether Harris or Trump clinch the win.

Kevin Morris, a senior research fellow and voting policy scholar with the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, stated: “There is and should be real concern that if we don’t get this right, we’ll see really big dropoffs in turnout.”

So, what are the changes officials are making to combat the impact of the hurricanes? For one, in North Carolina, county election boards will be allowed to modify early voting days, hours and sites and open a polling place in another county if their own polling site has been impacted.

Boards also may allow any voter in the county who is unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site to cast a ballot at the county’s elections office. Thing is, it’s likely that voting might not be at the top of everyone’s list considering the sheer devastation and destruction caused by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

That being said, for Republicans at least, these hurricanes have only ramped up their political motivation. Indeed many conservatives online are convinced that these hurricanes are a part of a Democrat-led man-made weather modification scheme, curated specifically in order to interfere with the election results:

I swear, this stuff never ceases to amaze me.