First week of early voting draws 19 percent turnout – Coastal Observer

First week of early voting draws 19 percent turnout – Coastal Observer

Nearly 20 percent of Georgetown County’s registered voters cast their ballots in the first week of early voting, according to the state Election Commission. There were 9,116 votes cast last week at the four early voting sites. There are 47,612 registered voters in the county. It’s only a five minute walk from St. John AME Church to the Waccamaw Recreational Center. The wait to get inside for the congregation members who walked to the polls took about an hour and a half on the opening day. It wasn’t an issue for the Rev. Dr. Novel Goff, the pastor of St. John AME. “We enjoyed it. We were excited,” Goff said. “You have to put in the work.” Other than some voters experiencing wait times, there hasn’t been any major complaints, according to Aphra McCrea, the county’s director of Voter Registration and Elections. “It’s running as we want it to be,” McCrea said. “We’re happy about the turnout.” Especially in Pawleys Island, she said, where the turnout was “extremely high” on Monday. The first people in line got to the rec center at 7:50 a.m. That quickly grew throughout the morning before the congregation members arrived. By 8:30, there were 30 voters in line. There was also a line of six cars to vote by curbside. There were 861 early voters in Pawleys Island on the first day and 921 on Tuesday. The peak was 965 voters on Friday. The turnout for early voting was below the numbers for the 2024 presidential election, but up from the 2022 midterms. In the first two days, turnout was up by 1,087 voters, 44.2 percent, compared to the same period in 2022, according to McCrea.  The Waccamaw center had the most early voters of the four sites in the county. Turnout over the first six days was 4,936. Turnout was also up in Georgetown, and it more than doubled in Andrews and Choppee in the opening days from 2022. Early voting continues through Oct. 31, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Election Day is Nov. 3, when voters will need to go to their precincts to cast ballots. The check your registration and polling place, go to scvotes.org.