More than half a million voters in western North Carolina alone, around 530,000 people, could be impeded from casting their votes for Donald Trump now that the Appalachian region has been annihilated and largely cut off from the rest of the world.
Some of those roughly 530,000 voters are dead and many more are injured, which could tip North Carolina to Kamala Harris instead. The same could happen in Florida as well depending on how quickly the state recovers from Hurricane Milton.
"Trump campaign fears >530k Trump voters in western NC cd be disenfranchised by Helene," tweeted veteran journalist Paul Sperry, quoting a "Trump insider."
"In fact, 26 of 28 counties hit by flooding voted for Trump in '20. 'There's a 4-to-1 disparity (vs Biden / Harris voters). We're very concerned,' a Trump insider said. NC = 16 electoral votes."
(Related: Did you hear about the Mexican man in Phoenix who was caught registering illegal aliens to vote?)
Severe storms cause some people not to vote
Politico seems to be equally as concerned about the political participation fallout of these major storms. Research the media outlet conducted found that natural disasters do, in fact, influence both voter turnout and preference.
A person whose house gets destroyed by a storm may decide to choose another candidate based on who is currently in charge and how the disaster relief efforts are handled. Another person who dies from a storm simply cannot vote at all unless his or her name is used to commit voter fraud.
"With Helene's impact stretching across Republican-leaning areas in North Carolina and Georgia, the storm poses a unique challenge for the Trump campaign," an independent media report explains.
"In the counties declared disaster zones in North Carolina, Trump secured 61% of the vote in 2020, while winning 54% in the affected areas of Georgia."
Another concern of the Trump campaign following Helene's devastation throughout Appalachia is the fact that registered Democrats in North Carolina have taken an early lead based on the return rate of mail-in ballots.
VoteHub.us found that 22,910 mail-in ballots have been submitted so far. Of these, 9,075 are from Democrats, 5,595 are from Republicans, and 8,240 are from unaffiliated voters.
"Of the outstanding 261,335 mail-in ballots, over 93,000 belong to registered Democrats compared to approximately 65,000 from Republicans," reports indicate.
In an attempt to tip the scales in the other direction, the Trump campaign has devised a scheme called the "Team Trump Bus Tour" that will travel around North Carolina trying to energize the state's conservative base. The tour will feature several high-profile Republican politicians including:
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds
• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)
• Former Trump administration officials Hogan Gidley and Kash Patel
The Team Trump Bus Tour will visit the following cities on the following days at the following locations:
Wednesday, October 9, 2024:
• Wilmington - New Hanover County GOP / Trump Force 47 Office
• Fayetteville - Cumberland County GOP HQ
• Rocky Mount - Rocky Mount Trump Force 47 Office
Thursday, October 10, 2024:
• Concord – Cabarrus GOP HQ / Trump Force 47 Office
• Gastonia - Gaston County GOP HQ / Trump Force 47 Office
• Charlotte - Trump Force 47 Office
Friday, October 11, 2024:
Lincolnton - Lincoln County GOP HQ
Statesville - Iredell County GOP HQ
The X / Twitter account "Postcards to PA" (@Postcardstopa) also shared the following information for NC voters impacted by Helene:
Paul, please post this for everyone affected in Western NC to know when, where and how to vote! pic.twitter.com/FKAjoiQyTz
— Postcards To PA (@Postcardstopa) October 9, 2024
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