Florence County absentee voting to surpass 7,000 ballots

FLORENCE — Florence County voting machines are expected to record well over 7,000 absentee ballots through Monday, said Steve Love, interim county elections and voter registration director.

More than 6,000 people had voted absentee on the machines as of Thursday night, and elections officials expected an additional 700 per day Friday and Monday, Love said.

In addition, voters requested 4,000 paper absentee ballots, he said.

On Friday afternoon, absentee voters were hindered by a state computer system problem.

Love said the state’s computer system was down and that elections workers couldn’t pull up ballot styles. Only voters carrying their registration cards were able to vote because workers could use that card to determine a voter’s election districts, Love said.

Although neighboring Darlington County’s voter registration office will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Love said Florence County will hold no Saturday hours.

That’s because employees must use that time to update the voter registration rolls with absentee voters so that precinct clerks on Election Day will know who has already cast a ballot.

Absentee voters throughout the week braved cold wind gusts as they stood for hours in a line outside the Florence County Voter Registration offices.

The lengthy line snaking through the halls and down the outdoor steps wasn’t what Emma Felder of Florence had expected to see when she arrived to cast her absentee ballot earlier this week.

“Actually, I thought everybody would be at work,” she said while waiting outside.

Jimmy and Genelle Rhodes made it inside the building after waiting about an hour and a half. They were out of town, but returned after hearing about the long lines for absentee voting.

“We’ll stay as long as we have to, to exercise our constitutional right to vote,” Jimmy Rhodes said.

“And hopefully our vote will help the right candidate,” Genelle Rhodes said.

In preparation for elections, the elections commission has used some additional funding it recently received from Florence County Council.

As a result, about a dozen precinct clerks and managers are assisting with absentee voting, answering phones at the voter registration offices, and entering data, Love said.

Florence County Council voted during its October meeting to approve $25,000 in contingency funds for the elections commission. The meeting was the last one scheduled before the election.

Councilman Ken Ard said he wanted to help the commission ensure that all residents would be able to vote.

“The concern I had is (that) if we are the body of people who are able to approve that funding, let’s do it now,” Ard said.

Love said voter registration employees also have been updating the registration books with residents whose homes have been annexed into Florence’s city limits.

Some voters didn’t vote in Florence’s June primaries after voter registration rolls showed erroneously that they didn’t live within the city.

Employees add the voters to the books after the city’s Urban Planning and Development Department sends notification that an annexation is final, Love said.

“They’ve been real good about getting to us,” he said.

Florence Zoning Administrator Liz Shaw said the department fulfills its obligations by notifying the voter registration office of annexations.

“I always make it a priority because I know (the notifications) need to go out,” Shaw said.

If questions of city residency arise at the polls, a voter can present a bill for city water and garbage pickup or a tax statement at his or her current address, Love said. Voter registration workers would then update their books accordingly.

In such a situation, a voter also could ask for a provisional, or challenged, ballot. Precinct clerks are trained to offer such ballots, as well, Love said.