MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Elections officials in the Deep South spent election eve tending to lingering problems from Hurricane Zeta and other storms that damaged buildings or left polling places without power ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Storm destruction caused polling places to be moved in Louisiana, and utility companies and election officials scrambled to restore power, or make sure generators were available, at polling places in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Election officials expressed confidence that the sites would be operational Tuesday.
Thousands of voters in southwest Louisiana will be casting ballots in different locations Tuesday because Hurricane Laura wrecked their traditional polling sites in late August, and they have not yet been repaired. In the New Orleans area and other southeastern parishes, more than a dozen voting locations will be running on generator power because outages caused by Hurricane Zeta last week have not been fixed.
“No polling location will be without power on Election Day,” Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, the state’s chief elections officer, said in a statement.
By far, the greater disruption in Louisiana was caused by Laura in southwestern Calcasieu and Cameron parishes, where Ardoin’s office provided charts showing locations for 95 polling precincts have shifted because of the destruction of the Category 4 storm.