Hurricane Helene may have cost western North Carolinians everything, but thousands are committed to voting early despite Democratic election officials standing in their way.

The Democratic-controlled Board of Elections (BOE) in McDowell County continually refuses to replace an early voting location lost to storm damage, which would help Hurricane Helene victims vote. The loss of the second location in Old Fort is hampering voter turnout in the damaged area and creating traffic hazards in the county seat of Marion, site of the Republican-leaning county’s sole remaining early voting location.