Presidential Election, 5 November 2024

Hurricane Milton, October 2024 

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on 9 October 2024 as a Category 3 hurricane. Milton brought winds of over 160 kph and about 41 centimetres of rain fell in St. Petersburg, Tampa. 16 fatalities were confirmed within the first week. In turn, Milton spawned 38 tornadoes across Florida over the next fortnight, causing five deaths. Over 2 million homes were left without power from Milton (Spencer and Payne 2024). The storm had a significant impact on infrastructure and buildings, with floods rendering roads across the state impassable (Yeung et al. 2024; NBC 2024; Cann et al. n.d.). Warnings were issued from multiple officials to evacuate, as well as from President Joe Biden (Williams 2024). 

Milton went from a Category 1 to Category 5 storm in just 20 hours, presenting a case of rapid intensification – when the maximum sustained winds increase by at least 56 kph in less than a day. Rapid intensification was possibly due to record temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, temperatures which were made 400–800 times more likely by climate change (Gramling 2024; WWA 2024). 

Impact on the electoral process 

Milton primarily hit Florida, moving straight across the peninsula after making landfall on 9 October (WWA 2024). 

Hurricane Milton, together with Hurricane Helene, became the subject of campaign messages and accusations between the two presidential candidates (Collinson 2024). Several claims were made by political actors to spread misinformation about the hurricanes, for example Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who posted on X that “they” can control the weather – meaning the federal government (Steffen 2024).  

Voter advocacy groups pushed for an extension to the voter registration period, as many could have missed their chance to register while they prioritized taking shelter from the hurricanes. Denying the request, the Florida Supervisors of Elections claimed that people did have enough time to register (Lieb  and Farrington 2024).  

A request for increased flexibility on mail-in-ballots, polling sites and drop boxes was submitted by the Florida Supervisors of Elections association to the Secretary of State Cord Byrd. The letter included a request to add seven more countries affected by Milton onto the list of those affected by Helene. The mail-in ballots were sent to the current residential address of the voter, and if the ballot could not be delivered, in some counties the voter could have their undeliverable ballot held at the post office for pick-up. If the ballot was returned as it could not be delivered, the voter would have to confirm their current address before a new one was sent out (Bridges n.d.).  

Turnout in Florida was 78.9 per cent, up from 77 per cent in 2020 and the highest turnout since 1968 (79 per cent) (Florida n.d.). Approximately 5.363 million people voted early and 3.029 million voted by mail, as compared with approximately 4.332 million early votes and 4.856 million votes by mail in 2020 (Florida 2024); (Florida 2021).