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Severe flooding across central Florida has forced election officials to relocate 18 polling places in seven counties before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The changes affected Brevard, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.
According to Florida’s Secretary of State’s office, the relocations were confirmed at 6:15 a.m. Eastern Time, just 45 minutes before polls were due to open.
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In several cases, officials merged affected voting precincts with other polling locations that remained open. Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic said the changes were necessary to protect voters and election workers.
“For the safety and security of our election workers and the voters of Brevard, it is necessary to relocate a couple of precinct polling locations due to these unprecedented circumstances,” he said.
The changes were announced before voting began. However, Florida law allows election officials to move polling places during emergencies when they don’t have enough time to follow the usual notice requirements.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Monday for the seven affected counties. In his emergency order, DeSantis cited “a significant threat to the safety, security, and well-being of Floridians in portions of Florida.”
