Elections
Early voters leave 2022 record in the dust
A record number of South Carolina residents wanted to cast a ballot in this year’s general election but didn’t want to wait until Nov. 5.
Lines were long at the recreation center in Pawleys Island and the county elections office in Georgetown when polls opened on Monday.
Al and Alice Conklin of Murrells Inlet left their house at 7 a.m. After stopping for breakfast, they were first in line when they arrived at the rec center at 8:10. When the poll opened 20 minutes later there were over 100 people in line.
They weren’t worried about an October surprise.
“Nothing’s going to change my mind at this point,” Al said.
He said he studied the county’s sales tax referendum questions ahead of time and talked with others about the two proposed 1-cent local taxes. He voted “no” on both and was out of the polling place by 8:34 a.m.
In Georgetown County, 2,541 ballot were cast on Monday, which is around 5 percent of registered voters.
The most votes, 1,143, were cast in Pawleys Island. Georgetown had 1,058. The Andrews and Choppee recreation centers totaled 340 votes.
In 2022, the first year early voting started, only 1,200 votes were cast during the two-week period.
The state smashed the record for ballots cast on the opening day of early voting with 125,900 on Monday. In 2022, 70,100 votes were cast on opening day.
Early voting continues each day through Nov. 2, except for Oct. 27, a Sunday.
All registered voters can cast a ballot in one of the four early voting centers. You do not have to cast a ballot at the center closest to where you live. Those wishing to vote should bring a photo ID.
Voters have also been using absentee ballots to make their voices heard.
The county has mailed out 1,828 absentee ballots and has received 1,043 back.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot application is Friday. Voters can stop by or call the elections office to request an application.
Absentee ballots must be received by the elections office by 7 p.m. on election day.
More than 7,000 absentee ballots were sent to voters in 2020, the last presidential election year, which was during the pandemic.
To check your registration, or see a sample ballot, go to scvotes.org.
