Horry polls open to crowds, some voting machines have problems

CONWAY—Janice Hopkins said she originally had other plans for Election Day.

She was going to head out of town with her husband.

“Today is really my daughter’s first day to vote,“ said Hopkins as she and her 19-year-old daughter, Megan, waited fourth and fifth in line at the polls at the Horry County courthouse in Conway.

“I stayed to make sure (she came to vote),“ said Hopkins.

Megan Hopkins was a little sleepy, but said she wanted to make sure she got a place in line.

“The line is going to be long,“ she said.

Not too long for Tracey Meyers. The long-time Conway resident was surprised when she showed up at 6:10 a.m. that she was actually the first in line.

“I thought there was going to be a line out the door,“ Meyers said.

Around the time the polls opened at 7:00 a.m., the line did wrap almost all the way around the lobby area of the courthouse.

Hopkins hoped her daughter and others in her generation, especially African Americans, realize how important today’s vote is.

“They really don’t remember what it means to our elders and our ancestors, what they did for us to get here,“ she said. “It’s a real important day for us.“

For Tracey Meyers, the sooner she could get through the line, the better.

“I can go home, and go to bed!“ she said.

—Rusty Ray, WBTW News13

Polls open to “hours long” lines

The polls opened at 7 a.m. across the Grand Strand Tuesday morning with some folks standing in line for hours.

People were lined up inside the recreation center at the Old Airbase on Grabeski Lane in Myrtle Beach.

Voters seemed to be in good spirits and the lines were moving steady.

Reports of over 100 people were waiting to cast their ballots for the presidential race, local and state races, all the way down to the penny tax referendum.

At 10 a.m., the lines continued to move smoothly.

Voters at the Surfside Town Hall were standing in line with nearly 300 people in line when two of the six voting machines stopped working around 7:30 a.m.

Poll workers limited the time a person had to cast their votes to 3 minutes once they step in front of the voting machine.

Horry County Elections Director Sandra Martin said “everything county-wide is going well, just very busy.”

Martin also said “there are long lines at the smaller precincts, something that was not expected.”

“618 voting machines are being used county-wide and every precinct has working machines. Several have broken, the county has about a dozen roving technicians to help fix problems.”

Martin continued on to say, “maybe this is an indication Horry County needs more voting machines.”

She said the problem earlier this a.m. at Salem Church was the building was locked, and that is why some early voters there had to use paper ballots, but Martin said that was all straightened out now.

The polls close across the Palmetto State at 7 p.m.

Count on News 13 and scnow.com to bring you the most up-to-date voting information throughout the day and evening.

—Eric Walters, WBTW News13