THE AMERICAN SOUTH

'One, two, three punch': Back-to-back hurricanes and COVID-19 complicate voting in Lake Charles

Maria Clark
The American South

A string of natural disasters has drastically altered how Lake Charles’ residents will cast their votes this election year. 

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Laura and Delta nearly 70 percent of 123 voting precincts in the Lake Charles area have been moved to a new location, according to Lynn Jones, the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court. Residents from 85 voting precincts have been directed to three consolidated ‘mega-sites’ to vote during the early voting period and for the general election on Nov. 3.

“This is going to go down as one of the most challenging elections in our history,” Jones said. “It was a one, two, three punch. The second we were done making modifications for COVID, Laura hits, and then comes Delta.”

During the early voting period, voter turnout has been double what it was in 2016 with a daily average of 2000 people at the Lake Charles Civic Center, Jones said. Approximately 19,000 voters are expected to turn up at their largest mega-site, the Burton Coliseum, on Nov. 3, he said. Voters were notified of the changes to the polling site by mail and can also check their polling site on the state’s GeauxVote app, Jones explained. 

Still with less than a week to go until the election, voters’ rights advocates fear those numbers won’t include many voters who have been displaced by the storms or lack adequate and safe transportation to get to the polls on election day. And while electricity has been mostly restored throughout the city, mail service has been slow to recover and internet service is still spotty in some communities such as North Lake Charles, according to Tasha Guidry, the co-founder of the Lake Charles Black Business Owners Association.

Caleb Cormier moves debris after Hurricane Delta moved through, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Delta hit as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 100 mph before rapidly weakening over land.

'Voting is the last thing on their mind'

Candidates for office have also raised concerns. 

“After (Hurricane) Rita voter turnout was 13 percent. Add two hurricanes and a pandemic, yes we are worried about poor turnout, said Brent Hawkins, a local candidate for Family Court judge. “This could mean we’d have a small percentage of the population making a choice on who will be making local decisions.”

Hawkins is also leading the Operation Hope disaster recovery team in North Lake Charles, a majority Black neighborhood that was severely impacted by the storms. In the last three weeks, the team has coordinated close to 100 volunteers to remove debris, tarp houses and cut down trees in the aftermath of the storms.

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“We still look like a war zone,” Hawkins said. “There are still cars lined up for half a mile waiting for food and supplies. There are still communities out here dealing with a lack of services. It’s hard to then tell them to go vote.”

Danny Bartie Jr. a life-long Lake Charles resident watched on The Weather Channel as a sign tore through the roof of his diner, Danny’s Place, destroying the two-year-old business during Hurricane Laura. His family had evacuated to San Antonio during the storm.

Danny's Place in Lake Charles, LA  sustained serious damage when Hurricane Laura made landfall in Lake Charles, LA on Aug. 27, 2020

“God, I just broke down,” he said. “Watching everything you work for, gone in just a few hours.”

This will be the first time in 20 years that he will be allowed to vote. In 2018, Louisiana restored the right to vote to approximately 36,000 former prisoners. On Nov. 3. Bartie will cast his ballot in Lake Charles. 

Until then he’s talking to customers, family members and friends trying to convince people to cast their vote even though many are still recovering from the storms and the impact of COVID-19.

“For a lot of them, voting is the last thing on their mind. They are dealing with so much else. A lot of people can’t get to the polls, they don’t have vehicles or they have been displaced,” he said. “What we need right now are candidates who will support our city’s recovery. This election is more important than ever.”

Lack of power, internet and transportation cause barriers

While companies are working steadily to restore power, Lake Charles resident, Guidry has reflected concerns about irregular public transportation. Guidry said she is worried about the impact on voter turnout.

“You are going to have a mass amount of people who won’t be able to cast a vote without transportation," Guidry said. "This is going to have a big impact on the elderly in the Black community who are always very engaged in voting."

A spokesperson for the City of Lake Charles confirmed they are not providing free public transportation the day of the general election, which means activists like Guidry are using the remaining days until the election to find people willing to offer rides safely to the polls.

Ensuring voters are properly informed about candidates is another barrier for voters who are still displaced or have limited internet access in their homes. 

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“The only thing we can do is have some teams go out with literature to let them know who they’re voting for,” Guidry said. “My fear is that people are tired and have become disengaged. There are a lot of local races and my worry is on election day a large number of constituents won’t be able to vote.”

The Power Coalition, a New Orleans-based civic engagement group, has been doing similar outreach work through social media and other platforms specifically to people who were displaced after the storms. Nearly 6,000 people who evacuated have yet to return to Lake Charles as of Oct. 26, according to a city spokesperson and about 150 people are returning daily.

'Extraordinary measures must be taken to add their vote'

Evacuees who weren’t able to return home after the storms were given the option to vote by mail and receive a mail-in-ballot at their current location. 

Following Hurricane Laura, the Secretary of State’s office broadcast statewide radio ads with details on how to request an absentee ballot and how to vote early for people who had been displaced.

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The Secretary of State’s office also worked with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) as well as state and local partners to identify the location of people who were receiving aid so they could send them registration and ballot information directly, according to a spokesperson. 

In New Orleans, organizers have been distributing sample ballots and information to evacuees still housed in hotels, according to Ashley Shelton, the executive director of the Power Coalition.

As people returned home, organizers also encouraged early voting. 

“We certainly have been disappointed that in the wake of one of the largest hurricanes to hit Louisiana since Katrina, more hasn’t been done to ensure their voices are heard in this election,” she said. “They are still trying to rebuild. When you have those kinds of challenges, it makes it very hard for folks to be interested in voting. They feel frustrated and unsupported.”

This is perhaps the most important climate for voters to become engaged, said Brian Brox, an associate professor of Political Science at Tulane University. Brox studied the impact of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the 2006 mayoral race in New Orleans.  

The local ability to administer an election after a natural disaster can be hindered by damaged infrastructure, such as voting machines and polling locations as well the ability to find voters who have been displaced, he explained. 

When you overlay the challenges of COVID-19, it becomes even more difficult to conduct outreach.

“These days you can’t shove a bunch of people in close quarters on a bus, extraordinary measures must be taken to add their vote,” he said. “Polling in the aftermath of a natural disaster, in this case three disasters, is when a population needs to be heard the most.”

Maria Clark is a general assignment reporter with The American South. Story ideas, tips, questions? Email her at mclark@theadvertiser.com or follow her on Twitter @MariaPClark1. Sign up for The American South newsletter.