Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, and landslides are just a few of the natural disasters that can strike in the midst of an election. As the severity of natural disasters continue to increase due to climate change,[1] the risk of disruptions to the democratic process is severe and warrants Congressional and public attention. State and local election officials primarily rely on luck that election equipment and poll sites will not be destroyed, and that the federal government’s emergency response will adequately support the communities impacted.[2] But what if this luck and reliance on the federal government runs out?

Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina on September 27, 2024, dumping more than 30 inches of rain in localized areas and causing $59.6 billion in damage.[3] The hurricane hit just 21 days before early voting began in the swing state. Election officials in North Carolina responded by granting emergency powers to county boards of elections to meet regarding absentee ballot issues. This allowed displaced residents to obtain an absentee ballot at their temporary address and exempted impacted voters from the requirement to show voter identification.[4]

Critically, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) appropriated approximately $1.1 billion in recovery assistance to North Carolina in the aftermath of Helene.[5] Karen Brinson Bell, North Carolina’s former top elections official, credited the emergency funding provided by FEMA as vital to the success of the state’s response to Helene and its disruptions to the impending election.[6] In particular, she emphasized that careful planning, integration with federal partners, and funding surges led to the successful administration of the election in North Carolina’s hurricane impacted counties.[7] Due to this coordinated response, state board of elections member Stacy Eggers noted that turnout in the counties impacted by Helene actually exceeded that of the rest of the state.[8]

Despite this positive story of resilience in the face of an unprecedented disaster, the Trump administration has since undermined that progress by firing federal emergency response workers and has proposed slashing funding to the agencies and programs that made such success possible in the first place.[9] President Trump has requested a $646 million budget reduction for FEMA and has fired or provided buyouts to approximately 33 percent of FEMA staffers.[10] Simultaneously, the administration, according to a U.S. Senator, has proposed a 40 percent cut to the Election Assistance Commission, along with the elimination of its election security grants, and an 18 percent cut to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the elimination of its $40 million election security program.[11]

This toxic cocktail of firing workers who protect elections and communities after natural disasters and reduced support for election infrastructure could prove catastrophic to the U.S. electoral system. A recent survey highlighted that 60 percent of local election officials are concerned about federal cuts to election-related services, with 87 percent of those respondents noting that the cuts will need to be made up by state and local budgets.[12]

Congress is not without recourse. Congress must assert its power of the purse under Article I of the U.S. Constitution by opposing these harmful cuts, fully funding state and local governments to adequately conduct elections, and providing resources to FEMA and related agencies to respond to natural disaster events. Without this twin programmatic support, the public servants who administer elections will undoubtedly be left without recourse, leaving thousands of voters effectively disenfranchised.

Legislation has been introduced to address this critical issue. Congressman Morelle’s bill, the Climate Resilience Elections Act, would mandate that states submit disaster response plans to the federal government, require the Comptroller General of the United States to report on major disasters and the election assistance response, and create grant funding for the Elections Assistance Commission to award grants that combat climate-related disasters.[13]

It only takes one natural disaster to render thousands of voters disenfranchised. Without proper, continuous, and unequivocal federal support, the very heart of American democracy is at stake. An almost 250-year experiment in self-government must not be reduced to inadequate preparation for disasters that will inevitably strike. Congress must act to honor and support the mission of state and local elections officials in administering free, fair, and uninterrupted elections.

 

 

[1] Extreme Weather and Climate Change, Nat’l Aeronautics and Space Admin., https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/extreme-weather/ [https://perma.cc/C9VT-DGH3] (Last visited Oct. 16, 2025).

[2] Vanessa Williamson & Ellis Chen, Protecting the Right to Vote in a Time of Climate Crisis, Brookings (Oct. 21, 2024), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/protecting-the-right-to-vote-in-a-time-of-climate-crisis/ [https://perma.cc/24XR-AP5P].

[3] Governor Roy Cooper, Hurricane Helene Recovery: Revised Damage and Needs Assessment, Off. of State Budget and Mgmt. (Dec. 13, 2024), https://www.osbm.nc.gov/hurricane-helene-dna/open.

[4] Election Officials Plan for Voting Post-Helene, N.C. State Bd. of Elections (Sep. 30, 2024), https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2024/09/30/election-officials-plan-voting-post-helene.

[5] Hurricane Helene Relief and Recovery, WNC Recovery (Aug. 15, 2025), https://www.wncrecovery.nc.gov/grow-nc-q4qr-2025/open.

[6] Maintaining Election Operations in the Face of Natural Disasters, Before the H. Subcomm. on Elections of the H. Comm. on Admin., 119th Cong. 1 (2025) (statement of Karen Brinson Bell, Former Dir., N.C. State Bd. of Elections).

[7] Id.

[8] Maintaining Election Operations in the Face of Natural Disasters, Before the H. Subcomm. on Elections of the H. Comm. on Admin., 119th Cong. 3 (2025) (statement of Stacy Eggers IV, Member, N.C. State Bd. of Elections).

[9] Joe Walsh & Nicole Sganga, FEMA Staff Argue Trump Administration’s Cuts Risk Undoing Progress Since Hurricane Katrina, CBS News (Aug. 26, 2025, at 6:58 PM), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-staff-argue-trump-administration-cuts-risk-undoing-progress-since-hurricane-katrina/ [https://perma.cc/3NBX-QDEM].

[10] Id.

[11] Sen. Alex Padilla, Padilla Statement Blasting Trump Budget Cuts to Election Security (June 3, 2025), https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-statement-blasting-trump-budget-cuts-to-election-security/ [https://perma.cc/SV2U-J4YL].

[12] Derek Tisler, How States Can Fill Election Security Gaps Left by Federal Cuts, Brennan Ctr. for Just. (July 25, 2025), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-states-can-fill-election-security-gaps-left-federal-cuts [https://perma.cc/47BJ-GPGK].

[13] H.R. 5407, 119th Cong. (2025).