Helene’s wrath will not harm Georgia elections, Raffensperger says
The Georgia Secretary of States Office performs a "health check" on election systems ahead of the November election in DeKalb County on Sept. 17, 2024. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - Hurricane Helene will not impact Georgia’s elections. That’s the message from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday.
Raffensperger says his office is working closely with election offices in all 159 counties to keep election operations on track following the devastating hurricane. The storm, which first struck Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, caused widespread damage across southern, central, and eastern Georgia, complicating efforts in some of the hardest-hit areas.
"Election workers across Georgia had begun the pre-election testing processes of equipment and facilities to be used in the 2024 election," Raffensperger said. "My office is working hard to make sure the election workers in the affected counties are safe, that their equipment is undamaged and secure, and that their early voting locations will be functional by the time early voting starts."
As of Wednesday, poor road conditions and power outages continued to affect the storm-battered regions of the state, slowing recovery efforts. Despite these setbacks, Raffensperger assured voters that the infrastructure needed to conduct the election would be fully operational before early in-person voting begins.
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In addition to election-related recovery efforts, Raffensperger commended the work of first responders and utilities. "Georgia’s Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), linemen from Georgia Power and other utilities, all the state and local first responders, and legions of citizen volunteers and faith-based organizations are doing a great job at getting people fed, housed, and back on their feet," he said. "But this was a massive and deadly storm, and recovery is likely to take a while. We applaud Governor Kemp for prioritizing the response."
Raffensperger also addressed potential changes to voting locations, stating that counties needing to relocate early voting sites would inform voters through the My Voter Page portal.
"We have to let the first responders finish doing their jobs, but as power is restored and voting locations can be assessed, we will make sure that the upcoming election is safe, secure, and convenient for all Georgia voters," he said.
Georgians will have three weeks of in-person early voting as well as Election Day to cast their votes. Voters with unaccepted absentee ballots can still vote in person.