Civil rights groups ask to extend voter registration deadlines in hurricane-ravaged states

WASHINGTON (AP) — With registration deadlines looming, Democrats and civil rights groups are asking election officials in the states ravaged by Hurricane Helene to give voters more time.

A judge in South Carolina on Friday extended that state’s deadline to Oct. 14, but prospects are uncertain in the other hard-hit states.

In North Carolina, one of the most fiercely contested presidential battlegrounds, election officials aren’t planning to extend the Oct. 11 voter registration deadline, North Carolina State Board of Elections spokesperson Patrick Gannon said. That could change when the Legislature meets next week to consider adjustments to state election laws.

The storm and the floods unleashed by Helene devastated a wide area around the mountain town of Asheville, leaving dozens dead and wiping out roads and bridges.

Gannon said election offices will process voter registration forms mailed by the deadline and received by Oct. 16. Eligible voters also are allowed to register during North Carolina’s in-person voting period that starts Oct. 17.

In Georgia, the other major presidential swing state in the storm’s path, at least 40 advocacy groups wrote Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, urging them to extend the registration deadline in the affected counties by at least a week beyond Monday’s deadline.

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