Early voting continues to S.C. break records

More than 865,000 registered South Carolina voters cast ballots in the first seven days of early voting, breaking records left and right across the state.

About 125,000 South Carolinians voted on each of the five weekdays of the first week of early voting, which started Oct. 21. On Saturday, just over 90,000 people cast ballots, according to S.C. Election Commission records. Then on Monday, 128,000 people went to the polls across South Carolina’s 46 counties.

Based on the state’s rate of early voting, as many as 1.5 million of the state’s 3.4 million registered voters will make their choices before the general election on Nov. 5. But not all registered voters end up casting ballots. In 2020, some 2.4 million of the state’s 3 million registered voters voted in the presidential race.

This year, if 1.5 million people cast ballots early, that means an estimated 1 million voters likely will show up on election day, which will unclog long lines often expected in general elections.

“If this is any indicator, election day should be pretty quiet,” said Isaac Cramer, executive director of the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections.

The county’s — and state’s — busiest early voting location is at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant where about 175 people waited patiently to vote just before lunch on Tuesday. That amounted to a wait of about 30 minutes for each voter.

Cramer said the location, staffed by 28 people, was processing about 400 voters an hour. Over the course of a typical day, the location handled more than 3,000 voters. Across the county, more than 12,000 voters cast ballots each weekday.

While Seacoast Church has been the county’s busiest location, handling 21,390 voters over seven days, the least-busy location is at St. Paul’s Hollywood Library where 5,233 people voted over seven days.

Early voting is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday. To vote in person at your precinct on Nov. 5, the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.