South Carolina GOP Runoff Early Voting Ends With Under 10% Turnout Expected
Updated
Updated · ABC NEWS 4 · Aug 22
South Carolina GOP Runoff Early Voting Ends With Under 10% Turnout Expected
3 articles · Updated · ABC NEWS 4 · Aug 22
Summary
Polls closed at 5 p.m. Saturday for early voting in South Carolina’s GOP Senate runoff, with Charleston County’s elections chief predicting total turnout will stay below 10% by Tuesday.
Isaac Cramer tied the weak participation to voter fatigue after a rapid sequence of elections — a primary, a special election and now the runoff — that left little time between contests.
Tri-county early voting totals underscored the slowdown: Dorchester logged just under 2,400 ballots, Charleston slightly more than 1,600 and Berkeley 1,538 since voting opened Wednesday.
Election officials said they will still run a full countywide operation on Election Day, while arguing the slump reflects the special-election calendar rather than any broader loss of support for early voting.