Voters in Florida Panhandle hit by Hurricane Michael have options for early voting

People in the Florida Panhandle are still trying to put their lives back together after Hurricane Michael hit the area, but at least they have added ways to vote in the midterm elections.

Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order Oct. 18 that allowed counties affected by the storm to open additional early voting sites despite the deadline already passing.

Clay County Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless previously served as the president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, and he says eight counties in the Panhandle have opened vote centers. He says the vote centers are like "early voting on steroids."

By that he means they are housed in places that are easy to access and will remain open through election day instead of having a window when they are closed before Nov. 6.

Chambless says another problem is many people who live in the path of the storm have been forced to move elsewhere due to the extreme damage. Those people have the option to get a mail-in ballot sent to them even if the address is not the one they are registered under.

"They can call and get emailed a ballot that can then be faxed back to their respective county," Chambless says.

He says the vote centers are places that other states already have in place even without natural disasters, and he hopes that's an option you will see soon in Florida without natural disasters.