The initial response from FEMA and the federal government in Georgia after Hurricane Helene is adding to the concerns about early voting for former President Donald Trump, considering the storm hit several counties he won in 2020, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said Wednesday on Newsmax.
"We all know that FEMA doesn't have a reputation as being very quick or efficient, so that's a concern to us," the Kentucky Republican said on "Wake Up America." "But we're concerned about early voting there. We're going to wait and see what happens today and measure the number of voters in those counties that were affected by the storm versus the other counties to see if there needs to be extra focus on trying to help get people voting in that area."
Trump narrowly lost to President Joe Biden in Georgia in 2020 by 11,779 votes, but won 57.3% of the vote from the 53 affected counties affected by Hurricane Helene, NPR reported.
"We all know that that is Trump country down there, so we're trying to stay on top of this," Comer said. "Again, our confidence level in FEMA was not high before the storms, and the Biden-Harris administration hasn't done anything to instill confidence that FEMA is going to do any better this time."
A Georgia judge blocked a rule requiring that Election Day ballots be hand-counted, as well as ruling that clerks can't hold up election results for irregularity, but must certify the results by their deadline.
Comer said the universal ballot was the "biggest problem" with election integrity four years ago. But now, with several states stopping election boards from mailing ballots to everyone, Democrats are "in a panic," he said.
"They've come to the realization that a lot of these people that voted in the last election, that voted absentee with a universal absentee ballot, they're more than likely not going to vote this election," Comer said.
Having more time to vote will be the "saving grace" in Georgia, Comer added, because the counties that were hit hardest by Helene will have several days to vote.
"We just need to continue to hope that the Trump campaign is getting the message out to people, that [their] polling places have changed because of the storm," Comer said. "If you can find time to go vote and beat the lines on Election Day, it's probably a good thing to vote today or early next week."
A new Reuters/Ipsos national poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris ahead by 45% to 42%, but Comer said the national polls "really don't matter as much as the battleground state polls."
"This election is determined by the Electoral College," he said. "I believe that Trump is going to win all of the battleground states. ... I think the momentum is clearly in Trump's direction."
Comer added that Democrats are starting to trash the Electoral College, showing they believe that Trump will win it.
Meanwhile, the momentum is on Trump's side, said Comer.
"If you believe in polls, as I do, the trending lines are clearly in Trump's and the Republicans' favor," he said. "So I think today, everything looks good. But we can't take anything for granted. And people have to vote, and they have to vote early."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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