Early voting sets new marks, continues through Saturday

Early voters are casting ballots for this year’s General Election in record numbers across the state and nation, and Laurens County is no different.

More than 8,000 ballots had been cast in the county as of Tuesday afternoon, a significantly higher number than around 6,000 no-excuse absentee and early votes cast in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

“We were ready,” said Lynne West, executive director of the Laurens County Board of Elections and Voter Registration. “We have five or six windows open, more than 18 voting machines and four or five curbside voting machines.”

She said the normal wait time to vote at the county’s voter registration office at 105 Bolt Drive in Laurens has been no more than 15-20 minutes

“Most of our wait times are shorter than that,” West said.

Early voting began on Oct. 21, and West said the heavy turnout began immediately and has remained steady ever since.

Statewide, more than 735,000 people voted early between Oct. 21-26, compared to 561,600 people in 2022.

“We are excited to witness such a strong turnout of early voters making their voices heard,” said Howie Knapp, executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission (SEC), “We expect continued record-breaking participation as we enter the second week of early voting.”

The Laurens County Voter Registration and Elections office will be open for early voting from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. each day through Saturday. After early voting closes at 6 p.m. Saturday, voters will have to wait until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to cast their ballots.

On Election Day, no votes can be cast at the county’s Bolt Drive offices. Voters must vote then at their individual precincts.

West said the turnout for early voting should things run a bit more smoothly on Election Day.

“It helps relieve some of the stress o hour resources,” she said. “It should help poll workers and voters both. We will deploy all the equipment we have to help things run as well as possible.”

Voters can find their precincts and view sample ballots online at scvotes.gov. Voters will be asked to present a photo ID when checking in to vote.

West also reminded voters that no campaign materials, including hats, shirts and buttons are allowed within 500 feet of any polling location.