Pinellas County elections supervisor asks state for voting flexibility after Hurricane Helene

Romy Ellenbogen, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 30, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TAMPA, Florida — Pinellas County’ elections supervisor is asking the state to grant her office greater flexibility in managing the upcoming elections as the county works to recover from the damage of Hurricane Helene.

In a Saturday email to Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews, Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus wrote that up to 40 polling locations in the county may have sustained “significant damage and could require relocation.”

Marcus said her office is still assessing how early voting locations and mail ballot drop-off sites fared.

She asked the state to issue an executive order giving the county flexibility similar to what she said the state granted after Hurricane Ian in 2022. That includes the authority to relocate or consolidate polling locations less than 30 days before the election and the ability to create additional early voting locations and to extend early voting days, including up to Election Day. She also asked the state to adjust rules on mail ballot drop-off locations and to permit vote-by-mail ballots to be sent to addresses other than the one a voter has on file.

She also asked that the state OK the United States Postal Service to forward mail ballots to voters who are not at the location listed in their voter file, so long as they provide identifying information.

“These measures are necessary to grant me the flexibility needed to accommodate affected voters and ensure that all residents of Pinellas County have an equal opportunity to exercise their franchise despite the challenges posed by the hurricane,” Marcus said in her email. She added that her office will not have any delay in sending out mail ballots to voters who have requested them.

Dustin Chase, a spokesperson for the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections office, said the office is working on giving voters the information they need when they need it, saying the office’s first focus is reminding people about mail ballots and the upcoming Oct. 7 voter registration deadline. Then they can focus on notifying people about possible changes to polling locations, he said.

“We are going to do everything that the governor allows to help people vote,” Chase said.

Pinellas may not be the only county seeking flexibility with running the upcoming elections in the face of Hurricane Helene’s damage.

Travis Hart, president of the Florida Supervisors of Elections, said he’s heard from counties up and down the west coast about possible lost polling locations. He said the group is figuring out what different counties need as the association crafts a request for an executive order from the governor’s office.

Mark Ard, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of State, said that the department has been in touch with supervisors in impacted areas. He said the department also reached out to the U.S. Postal Service regarding concerns about vote-by-mail ballots being sent out.

“The Florida Department of State will continue to follow up with Supervisors throughout this time as their needs evolve,” Ard said in an email.

In Charlotte County, the elections office flooded, causing the elevator to break, so officials moved its early voting location to a nearby event center.

In Lee County, which sustained serious damage in 2022 from Hurricane Ian, Elections Supervisor Tommy Doyle said his office was still assessing sites for damage but was also focused on helping other counties, including possibly sending printers to Pinellas. The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office also said it is still assessing sites for any damage, as is the Manatee County elections office and the Sarasota County elections office.

In Pasco County, at least two polling locations, the Sea Ranch Civic Association and the Sea Pines Civic Association, sustained too much damage to be used in November, said elections supervisor Brian Corley. Two other locations are also being assessed to figure out if the level of damage would necessitate using a new location.

Corley said he supports Marcus’ request. He said his office isn’t at a point yet where he knows if they need a similar request, but he said he would like “any tools in our toolbelt” to help pull off a successful election.

“It’s certainly a challenge in a normal setting, let alone a highly scrutinized, polarized election,” he said.

In a news briefing before Hurricane Helene made landfall, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was too soon to know whether the state would need to make any accommodations for the election but said he was “confident we’ll be able to figure that out.” He added, “You’re going to be able to vote, that’s not going to be an issue.”

In 2022, DeSantis issued an executive order giving the three hardest-hit counties from Hurricane Ian more flexibility. He issued that order about two weeks after the storm made landfall.

_______