Long lines show strong voter turnout on first day of early voting
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Monday marked the first day of the two-week early voting period in South Carolina.
“I think it’s an important election, there are a lot of things on the ballot that are important to me as a citizen and I just wanted to get out and make sure I got counted on the first day,” said Rosamond Lawson after voting early at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant.
Long lines wrapped around the church which is one of Charleston County’s seven early voting locations.
Some voters reported waiting nearly two hours to cast their ballots.
“It was good. The lines are very long, but that’s good too. That’s encouraging that people are really interested enough to turn out and come vote,” Margaret Massari said of her voting experience at Seacoast.
Elections officials in the county predicted this year’s turnout will break records since it’s the first presidential election since the state law on early voting changed in 2022.
As of 6 p.m. Monday, over 12,020 have voted on the first day of early voting, according to the county board of elections.
The previous record was 8,700 on the last day of early voting in 2020.
Isaac Cramer, the Executive Director for the Charleston County Board of Elections, said people can do their part to keep the line moving by reviewing their sample ballot ahead of time and having their photo ID ready.
“It’s a longer ballot. Where we see any back up is when people are actually voting on the ballot marking device, and it’s just the length of how many pages they have to go through,” said Cramer. “So, if you know your selections ahead of time, do that research…”
The executive director also reminded that curbside voting is not available to everyone. According to the law, only those who cannot access a polling place or stand in line due to a disability or being 65+ can participate.
“We don’t want people to be waiting in a curbside line thinking it’s like drive-thru voting and it’s not. This is only for people that have a designated reason for voting curbside,” Cramer added.
Sporting their “I voted” stickers, thousands of people in Charleston County can now say they made their decision in the 2024 election.
“It feels really great just to be like an American citizen and being able to cast my vote,” said college student Luca DeMassa who voted early in her first presidential election.
As a reminder, registered voters in Charleston County can vote at any of the seven locations. For those hoping to dodge the long lines, officials said the Hollywood and Downtown Charleston early voting centers typically see lower turnout.
