Ron DeSantis frets that Hurricane Helene destruction may depress GOP swing state turnout

Image via AP.

Hurricane Helene left devastation in Georgia and North Carolina, and Gov. Ron DeSantis fears that storm impact could make it to where reliable Republicans don’t get a chance to vote in two of the closest elections on the electoral map.

“If you look at Georgia and North Carolina, the path that this took is probably, I would say 2 to 1 Republicans in the path of that,” DeSantis said on Friday’s episode of The Dana Show.

The Governor wants those states, which have 16 electoral votes each, to ensure people displaced by the storm can vote as they can in Florida, “because if not, I think you could see a noticeable drop off in the turn” if absentee ballots can’t be sent out to places, particularly in the North Carolina mountains where roads, other infrastructure, and entire communities were destroyed.

“North Carolina was decided in 2020 by one percentage point. This is a state that’s been very, very competitive. We don’t have the luxury of just seeing 10 or 15,000 people who otherwise would have voted not be able to vote.”

Polling averages show Donald Trump with small leads in each of the two storm-ravaged states. He’s up 1.5 points in Georgia and 0.6 in North Carolina, per Real Clear Politics.

“It’s really important that these people are able to vote,” DeSantis said. “Especially in North Carolina, I think they need to make sure that there’s accommodations so that these voters are able to have their voice heard.”

Worth noting: North Carolina has a Democratic Governor in Roy Cooper.