Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Office has launched a landing page on its website dedicated to providing up-to-date information on election-related issues to help voters impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Current information includes any office closures, the plan for mailing ballots and how to obtain ballots if a voter’s address is not receiving mail due to the storm. The site also contains details on early voting, Election Day polling places and poll worker training resources.
The page will be updated frequently to provide any additional information as it becomes available.
All of the SOE offices are currently open and operational during normal business hours from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The new landing page directs voters to the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) service alert page for anyone in an area that is not receiving mail.
As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the USPS site has not listed any Pinellas County mail locations that are closed. The only closures are in Ruskin and Bradenton, both have moved operations to nearby functional centers.
Much attention has fallen on voting access ahead of the Nov. 5 election, which features a Presidential Election contest and several local and state candidates and issues.
Most of that focus nationally has been directed at North Carolina, where Helene dumped heavy rains to already saturated grounds, leading to massive flooding and destruction. Much of the state’s Asheville area is still flooded, as cell service, electricity and water remain hard to come by and roads continue to be largely impassable.
Any drop-off in voter turnout in affected areas in North Carolina could have huge implications on the presidential race as both Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, look to the Tar Heel State as one of seven crucial battlegrounds. Asheville, where most of the devastation is centered, is a blue enclave nestled in otherwise red western North Carolina.
But issues are possible locally in Pinellas as well, with some residents in low-lying and coastal areas displaced by flood and/or wind damage to their homes.
The website is meant as a resource for those impacted voters to ensure they have all the information needed to still cast their ballot next month in what is widely considered a consequential election.
