Early signs point to high Sumter absentee turnout

A trend appeared early that Election Day voter turnout was low while absentee voting soared.

State lawmakers passed a bill that Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law last month allowing every registered voter in South Carolina to cast an absentee ballot as a means to prevent crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic. With South Carolina not having early voting, absentee voting - which can be completed by mailing a ballot, emailing it or going in person to the voter registration office - is the only way to cast a ballot while avoiding the polls on Election Day.

Turnout day-of seemed low across the board. A poll worker at the South Hope Center said around 1 p.m. that only around 40 voters had walked through the doors.

According to Pat Jefferson, director of Sumter County Voter Registrations and Elections, more than 4,500 Sumterites cast absentee ballots in person, by mail or by email as of 6 p.m. Monday. In the 2016 primary, Sumter had less than 8,000 voters cast ballots total.

Sumter tends to vote at a lower rate than its neighboring Clarendon and Lee counties. According to data from the S.C. Election Commission, Sumter's turnout was in the 10s and teens, percentage-wise, for the 2016 and 2018 primaries, while Clarendon and Lee counties were in the 20s and 30s. The state voted in those two elections around 20%.

Jefferson said there are just more than 70,000 registered voters in Sumter. According to state data, Clarendon has more than 23,000 registered voters, and Lee has more than 11,600.