Early voting begins in SC

Nearly 126,000 people cast their ballots Monday as the early voting period began in South Carolina.

Early voting will continue through Nov. 2 at select locations across the state.

State election officials said Monday’s early turnout was record-setting.

But in this first presidential election year with universal early voting, the early numbers are not unexpected, voting experts say. South Carolina has allowed two weeks of in-person, no-excuse early voting only during the mid-term elections of 2022.

TJ Lundeen of the S.C. Election Commission said he encourages early voting to help “alleviate some of those bottlenecks that are sure to happen,” on Election Day.

But lines were still a factor Monday at some sites.

Alexis Weaver, a graduate student at USC, went to two locations before she cast her vote. She ended up at the Blatt PE Center on the University of South Carolina’s campus after lines at The Brook Church on Parklane Road were too long for her.

“We saw that the cars were just down the street, like two miles,” Weaver said. “It was really bad.”

Weaver said it took her a total of five minutes to vote once she arrived at the Blatt center. That’s far quicker than voting on Nov. 5 will be, she said.

Sam Drew, USC’s 1967 student body vice president, came back to his alma mater to cast his vote on Monday with his wife, Mary Drew. 

The pair ended up at the Blatt center after lines at two other polling locations were too long for them. They were determined to get their votes in.

“I want to be sure my vote is in there,” Mary Drew said. “Whether it counts or not in the state, I want it there.”

But beating lines was not the only reason voters showed up early.

David Britt, a senior instructor at USC, used early voting as an insurance policy for the unknown.

“I just want to get it done, in case anything happens between now and Election Day, for me,” Britt said.

David Axe, a local journalist and filmmaker, said polling from early voting can help campaigns focus on areas where their numbers are down. He voted early to be a part of those early polls. 

“It’s a strategic way of helping just a little bit,” Axe said.