AT THE POLLS: Shorter Election Day lines, few problems at Midlands precincts

Voters strolled straight into the polls at most locations — with short or no lines — early afternoon Tuesday.

Early voting cut down on day-of turnout, and at many polling places, those who did vote during the day did so early in the morning, according to poll clerks. A post-workday rush was expected.

It rained in the morning, sometimes hard.

Only a handful of precincts, mostly in Richland County, reported early problems with machines.

One machine at the Greenview Park polling place was broken after being used for curbside voters in the rain. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., poll clerk Tiffany Hubbs said the machine would be fixed within the next hour.

Poll clerk Robert Key at Hand Middle School in Columbia said there were a couple of “minor problems” with the machines, but there were enough backups to keep votes rolling.

When middle school teacher Stephanie Villamizar cast her vote at about 1 p.m. at A.C. Flora High School, the line was short. For stretches in the early afternoon, there was no line at that Richland County polling place.

“I’m a little more nervous about this one,” said Villamizar, who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. “There’s a particular person I don’t want back in office.”

She said she doesn’t think her vote will do much in South Carolina, but it’s still important to show up to the polls.

“As a queer, brown, female teacher, this is a very important election to me,” Villamizar said.

Michael Gauthreaux voted for former president Donald Trump at Hand and expressed more confidence.

“Times will change tomorrow,” Gauthreaux said. “This is all part of our country’s growing pains — it’s an ugly time.”

People lined up at Blythewood High School at 6:30 a.m., ready for the polling place to open.

It was much the same elsewhere. Poll clerk Catherine Geene reported St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Lexington County saw a rush of voters at 7 a.m. when polls opened.

“Sixty percent have already voted,” Geene said. She estimated another 1,000 votes would be cast later.

Frank Dempsey, a retiree from Lexington County, said he voted a straight Republican ticket, and it took about five minutes to cast his vote at River Bluff High School in Lexington.

USC law professor Richard Willis was also among those who were able to vote quickly, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Columbia at about 9 a.m. Willis said he voted for former president Donald Trump and split his votes among Democrats and Republicans down the ticket.

Had Willis voted earlier, he would have faced a long line. A poll clerk said the line wrapped around the building early in the morning.

Lines moved slowly at about 10 a.m. at St. Andrews Park in Richland County, where two of three voting machines were down, according to a poll manager who declined to provide her name. Poll worker Barbara Murray also said there’s a shortage of poll workers there. She said there were about six or seven poll workers four years ago, and four this year.

As of 9:30 a.m., 216 votes had been cast at Saxe Gotha Elementary School in Lexington County, and by then, voting was easy.

“I got here at the perfect time,” said Red Bank retiree Rachel Todd, who said it took her less than a minute to vote for Trump.

At the same location, West Columbia pastor Scott Brady said it took him less than two minutes to vote for Trump.

Alexis Hill, a server at California Dreaming, said she is a Columbia resident who is originally from Charleston. She said she voted for Kamala Harris at Richland’s Olympia Learning Center, where there was no line.

“I am very nervous because the last election was so messy,” she said. “The previous president threw a tantrum, and his followers, who have this weird obsession with him, followed.”

Early and absentee voting led to a light turnout at Richland’s Kilbourne Park Baptist, poll clerk Rusty DePass said.

Melanie Murphy, a self-employed wedding planner, drove three blocks from her house to Kilbourne Park Baptist. She said she focused on local elections because of their ability to impact her life directly.

“I am a small business,” Murphy said. “I’m not a rich person. I live in South Carolina, where it’s kind of average. I know there’s bigger issues out there that need to be addressed. But my issues are just as important.”

Jannie Roberts, a Richland County resident who voted at A.C. Flora High School, said she’s ready for political signs and ads to be gone.

“No matter what happens, it’s got to be calmer,” she said. “We’re looking for peace now.”

Carolina News & Reporter writers Mollie Naugle, Ky Villegas, Cassie Cornwell, Mary Gaughan, Sydney Zulywitz, Katie Rojas and Geri Johnson contributed.