COLUMBIA, S.C. — Monday marked the first day of the two-week early voting period across the state. Thousands of voters headed to the polls to cast their ballots for the November 5th election.
“When I first pulled in, it was a little overwhelming with all the cars, but when you realize, if you walk in, you can really get in and out pretty quickly and so parking and then walking to the line, but it really moves pretty quick. It was about 45 minutes to from start to finish," voter Lynn Wilson said.
Diann Williams, another Richland County voter, says she was surprised with how quick the process was.
“I had expected a long wait, so I got my lunch first before I came and I stood in line, started eating my lunch, but the line was moving so fast I was in and out," Williams said.
Richland County election officials say many are taking advantage of early voting.
“Our turnout right now, looking at Ballentine, they're about a 900. The Brook Church is about 850 and also here at Brookland Northeast about 800 people, total county wide is about 4000 registered already cast their early ballot,” Travis Alexander said.
Alexander is the director of voter registration and elections for Richland County. He says curbside voters might experience a bit of a longer wait.
“We do have some areas where we have a lot of curbside voters and we are only able to process, y maybe one or two at a time. we only have maybe a team of five or six people. so we tell voters, if they have the ability to come inside, you know, we can put some chairs out when we sit down, if they are not able to stand for long time. but the curbside time period might be a little longer than normal might be looking longer,” Alexander said.
Voters say they were eager to head to the polls this year, waiting about 30-45 minutes to cast their ballots.
“I’m just so excited about this election, and I wanted to be certain that i got in early in case there were any issues, I could go back and do whatever needed to be done to get it corrected, and I could also help on election day,” Williams said.
People can vote early from Monday October 21st to Saturday November 2nd. Voters must bring their photo ID to the polls.
“The big recommendation is do not wait till the last Saturday. We're going to be here Monday through Saturday, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm but again, try not to wait for that last Saturday.”
For a full list of places to vote early in South Carolina, you can visit scvotes.gov.