The Epoch Times By T.J. Muscaro
TAMPA, Fla.—Election day in the United States has been hurricane-free for at least 164 years.
However, as eyes stay on the tropics in the final countdown to Nov. 5, the possibility of that streak ending remains alive, with Florida and Alabama standing ready to ensure voting can continue as expected.
“The Florida Department of State works closely with the county Supervisors of Elections, and if emergencies do arise, we take necessary steps to ensure that voters can vote,” Mark Ard, interim communications director for Florida’s Department of State, told The Epoch Times in an email.
“In the last two general election cycles, Florida has had a total of four severe hurricanes hit different parts of the state.
“Counties lost polling locations, voters were displaced from their homes, infrastructure was severely diminished—and the elections still went on.”
Florida’s state department is working with Supervisors of Elections in counties affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton to ensure residents can vote, he said, and executive orders signed by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis authorize the supervisors to make “appropriate accommodations.”
Those accommodations include extending the deadline for establishing early voting locations, consolidating polling locations, waiving required training of poll workers if there is a shortage, allowing state employees to serve as poll workers, and utilizing law enforcement, first responders, and even linemen, to ensure that vote-by-mail ballots are delivered.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted 17 to 24 named storms would develop before the season ends on Nov. 30, with Hurricane Milton being the 13th of the year.
The closest example appears to be in 1904.
An unnamed tropical storm made landfall in Destin, Florida, on Nov. 3, traveled across Georgia and South Carolina while weakening into a tropical depression, and moved across the Atlantic Ocean on Nov. 6.
Election day that year was on Nov. 8, and the storm did not appear to affect election results…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… (theepochtimes.com)
Home | Caravan to Midnight (zutalk.com)
