Oct. 22 (UPI) — The federal government launched a new digital tool to aid U.S. voters in six states affected by recent hurricanes.
On Tuesday, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled its new online webpage that has compiled scores of listings for needed and critical information for American voters affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The recent hurricanes have displaced thousands of people and disrupted vital services and other facets of daily life, including the voting system, DOJ said in a release.
While the storms closed schools, businesses and other places, DOJ said they also bogged down U.S. postal delivery services that are crucial for voting. Also, for many storm victims, crucial personal documents needed for voting, such as photos and identification records, have been destroyed.
According to the Justice Department, the new site offers information to voters on how reach local voting officials who can provide the most specific and up-to-date guidance.
The site also identifies and links to various voting changes made by individual states. It also can be an aid to those who have lost ID paperwork, officials said, adding that it also provides polling site info for voters — many of whom have been displaced by the storms and might face new locations at which to cast ballots.
The Justice Department reminded voters that federal law protects them from any intimidation, coercion or interference at every step of the voting process.
Florida’s west coast already had been hit by a strong hurricane this Atlantic storm season when Hurricane Helene hit the Big Bend region on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm. After sweeping the state northward, it bounded into the southeast United States, hitting it hard with record-breaking rain that flooded rivers and low-lying areas throughout Georgia and the Carolinas. More than 200 people were killed in the storm overall.
North Carolina’s death count is at about 95 and attributed to drownings and landslides.
However, on Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell said disinformation or misinformation still has been harming Helene’s recovery efforts in the western part of the state.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Siesta Key on Oct. 9 as a Category 3 storm after at one point being a Category 5 hurricane. About 30 people were killed in the storm and in its aftermath as it caused wind damage and flooding across wide areas of the state. A handful of people remain missing from that storm.
