By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A Republican U.S. lawmaker this week suggested the storm-hit state of North Carolina should allocate its votes in the Electoral College to Republican Donald Trump before the Nov. 5 election has taken place, drawing criticism from Democrats.

Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, who chairs the hardline House Freedom Caucus, said in an exchange captured on video on Thursday that given the destruction caused in North Carolina by last month's Hurricane Helene, the state legislature should preemptively declare that Trump won the state's 16 Electoral College votes, to avoid "disenfranchised voters."

His comments were first reported by Politico.

North Carolina is one of seven battleground states expected to play a decisive role in determining whether Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris is the next U.S. president. Polls show Trump with a marginal lead in the state.

Democrats slammed Harris' suggestion.

"Voters decide elections, not far-right politicians," Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

"It's really important to understand the mainstream Republican goal - to make Donald Trump President whether or not he wins the election," Senator Chris Murphy said in a social media post.

Harris' campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Twice this century, Democrats have won the majority of the national popular vote without securing the 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House: in 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared Republican George W. Bush the election's winner and in 2016, when Trump was first elected.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell)

((Moira.Warburton@thomsonreuters.com;))