Weeks after Helene brought catastrophic flooding to parts of western North Carolina, recovery efforts continue. Water service is slowly returning to cities including Asheville, but thousands remain without internet, cable or cell service in the region.
With the November election mere weeks away, misinformation has spread amid the wreckage from the storm.
This Politics Monday on Charlotte Talks, with guest host Ely Portillo, we begin by debunking false claims about the elections in North Carolina with Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Part of the progress the State Board of Elections cites are the 76 early voting sites that are open in western North Carolina counties that were listed in the federal disaster declaration, despite the destruction to the region. Before the storm, 80 sites were planned to be open, Brinson Bell stated on Oct. 15.
Then, we consider the outsized power voter turnout will have in Mecklenburg County. A concerted effort from the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party is already making waves — they have raised more than $2 million this year, a major increase from 2020, when they raised just $152,000.
We consider the get-out-the-vote efforts from North Carolina’s mountains to the coast as misinformation swirls and a major presidential election looms — the results of which could be decided by voter turnout efforts in Charlotte.
GUESTS:
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections
Steve Harrison, politics reporter for WFAE
Daniel Hopkins, Julie and Martin Franklin Presidential Professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania
Drew Kromer, chair of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party
Jeff Blum, Democratic Party organizer and fundraiser
