LEXINGTON, S.C. — The Lexington County Registration and Elections Office has seen a record number of absentee voters for the November 2020 election.
Many people are choosing to vote absentee this year, including voting by mail and in-person. Lexington County has seen a significant amount of absentee voters.
"It's really busy, everyday gets busier and busier," said Mary Brack, the Director of the Lexington Registration and Elections for Lexington County. "But the line is moving very quickly."
Poll workers have arrived to work at 6:30 a.m. with voters already in line. Voting begins at 8 a.m.
The biggest day the county has had was on Tuesday, where it saw almost 1,300 voters.
On Wednesday, the line wrapped around the building in Lexington. According to the county, this was in part because of social distancing guidelines, but also because of the number of voters.
Most people waited an hour or more to cast their ballots.
"Usually this is like what you would see the couple of days before the election with all the absentee voting, but never this soon," explained Brack. "We've got another two weeks to do. But we're moving people in. I'm glad people are coming out to vote."
According to the staff, voters are allowed to join the line until 5 p.m.
Officials anticipate they will continue to have a large number of voters each day until the election in November.
Kemeron Seder was one of the voters in line on Wednesday.
"It was pretty cool," said Seder. "We came a little later. It was a long wait."
Although the line was longer than Seder expected, he believes it was worth the wait.
"It is what it is. As long as you go out and vote," explained Seder. "It's determining our future, who runs this country and all of that."
The director said in 2016 they had around 20,000 absentee voters.
This year, the county has seen 46,000 voters between mail-in ballots and people coming in to absentee vote. There are more than 22 machines available for people to cast their ballot in-person.
People have also been sending in applications to vote absentee by mail.
"We get hundreds and hundreds a day of applications that we have to process," said Brack. "We're usually doing that after 5 staying here to make sure that those ballots are shipped out the next day in the mail."
The department sees buckets of mail from people returning their ballot.
"First of all, they're in a secured ballot box. Once they've been recorded in our system, they're sealed and they're numbered and they're in a secure room that is locked at all times," explained Brack.
The ballots won't be opened until the Sunday before the election. On that Sunday, only the exterior envelope of the ballot can be opened. The other envelope that includes the ballot can't be opened until election day.
Officials are also working to send equipment to all 96 precincts in the county to make sure they're ready for election day.
"Bring your patience when you come, bring your photo ID, be ready," said Brack. "Have your photo ID out when you hit the door. You're ready to go on in."
Lexington County has a few satellite locations available to absentee vote.
Here are the locations and dates available for absentee voters in Lexington County:
Lexington County Auxiliary Administration Building - 605 W. Main Street, Lexington, SC
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 5 through Nov. 2. Also open on Oct. 31 with hours TBD.
Batesburg-Leesville Town Hall - 120 West Church St.
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 20, 21
Irmo Town Hall - 7300 Woodrow St.
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 22, 23
Chapin Town Hall - 157 NW Columbia Ave
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 26
West Columbia Community Center - 754 B Ave.
8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Oct. 27-29