In a letter from the RNC and North Carolina GOP addressed to Buncombe County election officials, Philip R. Thomas, the state’s election integrity counsel at the RNC, urged the county’s Democrat-controlled election board to “immediately” call an “emergency meeting” to add more early voting sites and hours. He said there are “clusters of low voter participation and significant gaps in coverage” in more rural parts of the county outside metro Asheville.

Thomas called the county’s plan “demonstrably inadequate compared to other counties affected by Hurricane Helene.” He said the county’s early voting cites are centered on Asheville, which he claims “unfairly punishes rural voters who have restricted mobility due to the hurricane’s impact on transportation infrastructure.”

In 2020, former President Donald Trump won the state by about 75,000 votes, but he lost Buncombe County by about 34,000 votes. Both he and Vice President Kamala Harris are trying to court the state’s 16 electoral votes.

“This is unacceptable partisan voter suppression by the Democrat board members. We demand immediate action and expanded voting access for Western North Carolina voters who need it most,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley said in a statement announcing the letter. 

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As a result of Hurricane Helene devastating areas of Western North Carolina, some counties have created early voting options by setting up early voting sites near locations where residents can pick up supplies for disaster relief, according to the letter. Thomas urged Buncombe elections officials to do the same in their county, calling it the “compassionate thing to do.”

The county’s election board did approve a modified early voting plan earlier this month. In it, they established early voting hours across 10 locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day from Oct. 17 through Nov. 1.