Early voting starts in one week, but several county Supervisor of Elections' offices in the Florida Panhandle are running off generators.
SPECIAL SECTION: Democracy 2018
The state races may see the biggest impact from Hurricane Michael. As elections supervisors scramble to get early voting polling sites up and running, voter turnout is a huge concern.
"I think turnout is going to be very very low in the Panhandle. This crisis just overwhelms everything," said WPTV Political Analyst Brian Crowley.
Crowley believes Republicans face the toughest road ahead. In more than half of the 35 counties under a state of emergency, the majority of registered voters are Republicans.
"Just as Democrats depend heavily on South Florida to help them get across the line in an election, Republicans count dearly on the Panhandle," said Crowley.
Crowley believes Republicans will have to campaign harder in other parts of the state. Early voting starts in one week and many of the Panhandle elections offices are running on generators. The Bay County Supervisor of Elections website says its office is currently closed and has very limited resources.
"Doesn't look like they all have polling locations, so in many of the locations they're just gaining access to their offices today or late last week," said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.
Bucher said every county is checking if it has extra equipment or resources it can send to the Panhandle. But, even if elections offices in the areas hit hardest by the hurricane can find polling sites with generators, voter turnout will still be impacted.
"If you had a ballot on your kitchen table and you don't have a kitchen table anymore, it's not your first and foremost," said Bucher.
Both gubernatorial candidates' campaign teams are collecting supplies and items to take up north. Governor Scott announced Monday that he is not holding any campaign events at the moment and is focusing on response and recovery. It is unclear if there will be another Senate debate between Scott and Senator Bill Nelson.
