Hurricane-walloped NC votes again after Big 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – For a Southern state regularly exposed to major hurricanes, call it a fall election Florence-style.

In 2016, North Carolina voters cast their ballots just four weeks after Hurricane Matthew hit with devastating floodwaters. This year, they’re voting about seven weeks after Hurricane Florence.

That leaves North Carolina lawmakers quickly changing rules for voter registration, the state elections board struggling to track down storm-displaced voters, and activists complaining more needs to be done so that those with lives upended by the cyclone’s epic flooding are able to vote.

The State Board of Elections is spending $400,000 for various types of ads to get out the post-hurricane vote. And lawmakers will be back Monday to possibly entertain measures to make the election run as smoothly as the calm of a hurricane’s eye.